Fairy Lore
by Maddy02
Summary: A collection of prompt-based drabbles and one-shots. Mostly featuring Lucy but no-one is safe. Beware manga spoilers and enjoy the madness.
1. Allergic

Thanks for the prompt list goes to the wonderful GizmoBunny. You can find a link to her prompt lists on her profile -for those of you who are really curious I'm using list number three. I don't think I need to attach any warnings to these drabbles, if you squint you may be able to pick out some Lucy/Natsu or Lucy/Loke but everything should be readable as Gen or Friendship as opposed to Romantic interest. Without further ado, on with the rambling;

Oh, wait, one further ado, there may be Manga spoilers. _Now_ on with the show;

* * *

1. Allergic

The second Erza left the room, Gray and Natsu sprang apart as if they were allergic to each other. The effect lasted about a minute before they were back in each other's faces, taunting the other about their fear of her, ignoring their own.

Levy glanced up from her book as they jostled the table she was sitting at. She pulled her Wind Reader glasses off to focus on the boys in front of her and without looking away, addressed her reading partner. "Hey, Lou-chan?"

"Hm?" beyond used to Gray and Natsu's constant fights, Lucy hadn't even noticed the table rocking.

"Page three-hundred and four. And those two"

Lucy skipped to the page mentioned, then glanced up. Fighting to keep her giggles down she replied "You're right, the way those two keep at it, they really _might_ be fighting an attraction to each other"

The comment was just loud enough for the two in question to freeze in horror and turn to look at the two girls staring guilelessly at them.

This time the allergy lasted a whole week.


	2. Sprinkles

2. Sprinkles

The fairy cake was stunning in it's perfect simplicity. Lucy could barely believe it was home-made. The icing was perfect, not a trace of mix could be seen on the paper-cup and the glacé cherry on top was flawless. The effect was only increased by the others surrounding it; each one was a study in perfection. They varied in appearance only as far as decoration –some had pink frosting, others white, a few had cherries others little glowing sprinkles, but each was identical in size and form. If Mirajane's pleasant smile looked a little smug today, there was good reason.

Lucy looked at her own lopsided creation and frowned. You couldn't see it but she knew beneath the top-layer of icing the cake was slightly burnt. The middle layer of icing kinda dripped over the sides of the bottom sponge layer. The chocolate sprinkles on top didn't really hide the fact she'd had no idea what to do about decorations…

She needn't have worried really; Natsu and Happy ate them all in about three minutes flat.


	3. Hairspray

3. Hair spray

Preparing to meet her Father was almost as bad as the event itself. Lucy was pushed and prodded and squeezed, buckled, pinned, practically wrangled into the formal dress. The servants always took good care of her, but Lucy would have been much more comfortable in the skirt-and-shirt combo she'd chosen. Far smarter than her usual mini-skirt and camisole –but practically rags compared to the dress she was now wearing.

Then came the hair. She tried not to wince as her blonde locks were swept, pulled, tightened and pinned into an elegant up-do. Then the part she really hated. A handmaiden shielded her eyes as another sprayed lacquer over to preserve the style. She would need to call Cancer to get that out afterwards.

And get it out she would. Right out of this house in which even her hair couldn't be free.


	4. Boobs

4. Boobs

Happy wasn't entirely sure how he'd managed to get separated from Natsu and Lucy. Although when he thought about it, it probably had something to do with that humongous fish… He had to shake himself to keep his mind wandering back down that path, he really needed to find his friends.

Unfortunately an aerial search failed. So he resorted to asking if anyone had seen them. A few people were scared by a blue talking cat, and those that weren't just laughed at the description of a fire-breathing boy with pink hair. So he changed tactics and asked if anyone had seen Lucy.

The next person he asked pointed him to them straight away. He hadn't even got as far as describing her hair colour…


	5. The Telephone Game

5. The Telephone Game

"Lucy, Natsu says he won't talk to you until you apologise"

"Hmph!" the blonde replied "Like I care! Tell him I did nothing wrong and he's acting like a child!"

Mirajane sighed and moved back down to the other end of the bar "Natsu, Lucy says she didn't do anything wrong and you're being childish."

"Since when is worrying about your comrades childish!" he demanded, the air around him heating up perceptibly. "Ask her what she would have done if she'd got in serious trouble!"

Mira rolled her eyes and returned to Lucy to relay the message

"I would have handled it. I'm a Fairy Tail mage too!"

"What, like she handled it when Juvia came after her?"

"That was different, it's not like this job put me up against an s-class mage!"

"That's not the point, she could have, and no-one would know where she was!"

"He can't seriously think that. You and the Master keep track of all the missions."

"She still didn't need to go alone! That was just stupid."

"There's no way I'd make my rent if I had to split the reward! If I took Natsu with me I may not even –get- the reward if he destroyed anything."

"Then I'd do extra jobs with her to make it up! Like I'd let a comrade end up homeless!"

Mirajane walked back and forth delivering messages until she was dizzy. She was so caught up in the debate she hadn't even noticed Erza arrive at the bar, waiting patiently to be served, until the weapons master stood and, keeping pace with her, walked down to Natsu "Lucy says-"

"Enough." Erza interjected, and Natsu looked up, his face turning pale. Very calmly, Erza took hold of his scarf and dragged him along to the other end of the bar. Feeling a shadow on her, Lucy looked up and let out a squeak at the sight of Erza's serious face. The next thing she knew the edge of a sword was pressed against her throat.

"You. Apologise for worrying your comrade." Lucy's eyes widened and she swallowed nervously before looking at Natsu's equally frightened visage

"I- I'm sorry I made you worry Natsu." Before the Dragon Slayer could respond, Erza's sword was turned against him

"You. Apologise for underestimating your comrade." Knowing better than to hesitate, Natsu immediately replied.

"I know you're an awesome mage Lucy. Sorry if I haven't let you know that."

"Apologise to Mira" was Erza's next instruction, delivered without missing a beat. Both mages bowed to the bartender apologising for involving her. "There, isn't it better to be friends?"

Lucy and Natsu nodded and Erza left them alone to finally get a drink herself.

"She's really…" Lucy began, but failed to find the words to describe the terror she'd seen waiting for her in Erza's eyes.

"Yeah…" Natsu agreed, knowing exactly what she meant. "Wanna find a job and get outta here?"

"Yes. Definitely yes."


	6. Stairs

6. Stairs

"Natsu, they're stairs. Okay they may be slightly enchanted but they're still just stairs."

"Urghk-" Natsu started to say something, but immediately clamped his hand over his mouth and lent over the railing.

"Look, see? I'm walking up them like normal."

Natsu watched her, before his eyes caught sight of something behind her; the end of the staircase! Hand still clamped over his mouth, Natsu dashed past her and collapsed at the top breathing heavily.

Lucy sighed and followed at a far more leisurely pace. Mentally she added escalators to the 'transportation' list.


	7. Low Fat

7. Low Fat

Lucy was absolutely one hundred percent certain she had stocked up on food only the day before. The fact that the only edible thing left in her house was a tub of low-fat yoghurt was testament to Natsu's stomach, rather than her own budgeting.

She stared at the yoghurt, knowing there was no way Natsu was smart –or for that matter callous- enough to be leaving a hint. He probably just didn't like yoghurt.

Sighing she made the best of it. Of course she was completely unsatisfied, but at least having eaten something she had the energy to go buy more food.

The next time she found her food stocks decimated she was left with low-fat yoghurt and the low-fat cheese that had been on sale. Blinking she reminded herself that Natsu was simply incapable of callousness. Was it possible he just didn't like low-fat food?

Surely enough changing her shopping habits resulted in her own foods being left. Natsu really didn't touch anything that was low-fat.

Of course, this discovery was rendered moot when she realised Gray would eat anything.


	8. Broken Shoe

8. Broken Shoe

"This is ridiculous" Lucy moaned "You're blowing this completely out of proportion."

"Nonsense. Whenever my Princess is in danger, I'll be there to keep you safe."

"I'm not in danger!"

"Not now that I'm here, I'll make sure you get to the guild safely." Loke smiled a smile that had been known to have women falling over him, eyes alight with mirth behind his sunglasses.

"I wasn't in danger in the first place. It's just a broken heel, at the worst I'd have fallen over." Lucy grumbled from her position held securely in his arms

"Exactly, can't have the lovely Lucy getting all scratched up."

"And I can walk myself" she continued, ignoring him completely "You're making it seem like I'm a complete invalid."

"If I put you down you'll just dismiss me." Loke answered, quite seriously "So long as I'm carrying you, you can't or you'll fall. Can't blame me for wanting to make sure my beloved master is alright now can you?" he added with a wink.

"Just who exactly are you calling 'beloved'?" Lucy grumbled, failing to notice they'd arrived at Fairy Tail until Happy's voice shouted across the beer hall;

"I KNEW IT!"

Lucy's forehead hit her palm; from now on she'd wear a lot more flat shoes.


	9. Measuring Cup

9. Measuring Cup

"Do you even get drunk?" Lucy asked, comparing her meagre glass to Cana's barrel. The Card user smirked, resting her arm on the top of her current 'boyfriend'.

"Depends if I'm trying to or not. I usually keep myself just below that level. If you don't get properly drunk you don't get the hangover."

"Quite the talent, how'd you pick that up?"

"When you've been drinking as long as me you learn."

"Cana, you're only a year older than I am." Lucy smiled her head resting on one hand. "That's what, three years?"

"Well, three _legal _years" Cana admitted, ignorant of Lucy's shock "But I started when I was thirteen so five years. It's not really that difficult though."

"O-oh?" Lucy managed, still trying to get over the fact that the Master –or rather Mirajane and Erza, had been tolerant of underage drinking.

"Mm, we just need to figure out what you can handle. Hey Mira!" she called, ignoring Lucy's protest of 'wait, me?' "Bring my measuring cup and a bottle of the sixty-five!" Before Lucy could blink a wooden mug filled with sweet-smelling wine was placed in front of her.

"Once you've had enough of those to get drunk we'll know what your limit is" Cana said with a wink.

"Um, I-" Lucy began, but Cana interrupted

"Don't worry you can't be worse than Elfman, he didn't even manage half a glass."

Recognising a lost cause when she saw one, Lucy sighed and started drinking. She had a distinct feeling she'd regret this in the morning.


	10. I already did

10. "I already did."

"Doesn't that get annoying?" Lucy asked, looking over Levy's shoulder where Jet and Droy were cheering incessantly.

"Not really, they're just showing they care. It's not like they can help with this sort of thing." She replied, without looking up from the cipher she was currently working on. "Besides if I don't let them cheer they'll probably start asking me out."

"And it'd be the _worst_ thing in the _world_ to have a couple of guys asking you out."

"Exactly" Levy replied, not picking up on Lucy's sarcasm "Team Shadow Gear works well as it is, I couldn't mess up the balance like that."

"Eh, so you'd reject them?"

"I already did" Levy mumbled, as she quickly jotted something down, moving from the main text to the reference she'd been using quickly.

Lucy blinked and looked over at the two guys again, wondering not for the first time where they got that drum from –and how long they could cheer without a break. "You're lucky, Levy" she concluded, earning a noise of curiosity from the girl still absorbed in reading "Even after you turn them down they still look out for you exactly the same. I don't think I'd be able to get over something like that."

"You'd be surprised what you'd do for your comrades… Ah! Got it!" Levy cheered, and was rewarded with an entire fanfare from the rest of her team.


	11. Middle Finger

11. Middle finger.

Natsu was hardly ever vulgar. Apparently in all that time with the dragon, Igneel had decided not to expand the boy's vocabulary to the coarse. Lucy imagined anyone who lived as long as a dragon had to have picked up a few insults here and there.

But even in his fights with Gray, Natsu's insults hardly went beyond "droopy eyes" or "underpants man". Lucy may have been brought up as a Lady, but even she could do better than that. She was very well read after all.

But as she sat comfortably on a log with Happy, watching Natsu trounce the group of highway-men they'd been commissioned to deal with, she supposed he didn't have to be.

After all, for his opponents, the sight of the pink-haired boy walking away completely unscathed and high-fiving a small blue cat must be much worse than any insult, gesture or insinuation she could think of.


	12. Inside Out

12. Inside out.

By the end of the first day, Leo was exhausted as he'd never been before. He seemed to be aware of every cell in his body as they all screamed in agony. His legs shook, his chest ached, his throat constricted.

His mind remained set.

At the end of the first week, he thought he might be breaking apart. His fingers refused to move, he could hardly feel his feet and his head felt like it might come off at any moment.

His pride was perfectly fine.

The first month felt like being turned inside out. His whole body tingled, it seemed impossible to get air _into_ his lungs. The thought of slipping back through the gate became more and more appealing. Then his eyes caught sight of Hamal, and from there traced the rest of Aries' constellation.

His heart was still exactly where it was meant to be.

At the end of the first year, he chose the name Loke. It seemed appropriate, considering his sin. Loke, who had helped the Gods, then brought war upon them. Weren't the contract holders 'Gods' to spirits after all?

Then he found Fairy Tail. His sin didn't disappear, but he could live with it, day by day.

Until the end.


	13. Good Intentions

13. Good intentions.

"Today is my birthday" Lucy whispered quietly to herself, trying but failing to keep her tears in check. She was ten now, double figures. It was supposed to be a special day wasn't it? All her other birthdays had been…

All her other birthdays had been spent with her Mother. Was it so bad to want some time with her Father, now that Mother wasn't here? She was very much aware that she was still right by her Father's office, so she let the tears fall without making a noise until she was sure she could control herself enough to retreat to her room. Shaking slightly, she picked up the rice ball she'd made for him. Chef had smiled when she asked him to show her. He'd said he wished his daughter was so considerate.

She stared at it as she made her way to her room. She'd only wanted time. That wasn't bad was it?

It couldn't be bad she thought, as she let it roll out of her hands into the bin in her room.


	14. Gale Force Winds

14. Gale force winds.

The storm they had long been expecting broke without much warning. One moment she had been staring at miserable dark skies, the next, lightning flashed across the sky and winds strong enough to send trees sailing past whistled through the building.

Mirajane scrambled round the guild, closing shutters and locking bolts into place. The few people who had turned up today helping to secure the doors and make sure all was in place. When she reached the last shutter, the barkeeper paused. There, outside, she could see their newest guild member standing, feet planted firmly on the ground, arms outstretched like wings, dark hair flying in the wind.

She smiled softly and closed the shutter over. If you looked at them, their Dragon Slayers couldn't be more different. One was over six feet tall, pierced all over and never seen with a smile. One was Pink-haired, perpetually cheerful and always the first to rush into things without thinking. The last was twelve years old, well-mannered –and female.

In other ways, they were scarily similar. Nobody but Wendy would be out in wind like this. Just like nobody but Natsu would eat flambé food –while it was still on fire.

It was nice for Natsu, she thought, who had been an oddity for so long, to have people now who used magic like his. Even if he only got along with one of them.

A particularly strong gust shook the shutters, and Mira looked outside to make sure Wendy was alright. But she was still there, arms outspread, a large smile on her face.

Mira felt her own smile grow, and she cheerfully went to the bar where her few customers were waiting.


	15. Action Figure

15. Action figure.

Gray had never had so much trouble with creation magic. Alright, what he was attempting was outside his usual 'shape' but it really couldn't be that difficult to switch from static to dynamic ice? Not for one spell.

The fact that he was essentially copying Leon didn't bother him. Nothing wrong with learning from an older student. Besides which it was a useful spell, he only wished he'd thought of it first.

Realising he was getting nowhere, he decided to scale back his attempts. Even for his mastery going all out on a new spell was never going to work. Bringing his hands together he visualized the shape he wanted

"Ice Make: Clone!"

He grinned when the mist formed by the cool air cleared and he was left looking at a copy of himself. It may only be ten inches tall, but it was a start.


	16. Making a Sandwich

16. Making a sandwich.

"Luuuuuucy~ hurry up" Natsu whined and collapsed against her kitchen table out of boredom.

"We're not leaving for another hour Natsu. I wouldn't expect you to be so keen to get on a train."

The Dragon Slayer fought down the urge to shudder at the very mention "I know, but at least if we were there we'd be _going_."

"We'd be _waiting_. Besides I'm not ready yet." Natsu rolled his eyes and slumped further down against the table

"How long does it take to make a lunch?" He complained, but got no sympathy from Lucy.

"If it bothers you that much you can always help."

Sighing, Natsu stood up and moved round see what she was doing. Sandwiches he realised, and copying Lucy layered the fillings between the bread the way she did before cutting them into triangles. After a few minuets working in companionable silence, Natsu realised he had a fair supply of sandwiches, not to mention the ones Lucy had already made.

"Hey, you're not gonna eat all these are you?"

"Not today silly. We don't know how long we'll be out of town on this mission, and these will keep for a few days. I made some for you and some with tuna in them for Happy as well."

A slow smile spread across Natsu's face as he processed this, grinning widely he pulled the girl into a hug "You're the best Lucy"

It turned out that the way to Natsu Dragneel's heart was straight through his stomach.


	17. Too Heavy

Fairy Lore

17. Too heavy.

If anything, it was the absence of blame that hurt the most. So many people had been hurt, Makarov had nearly died and the guild had been destroyed.

Not one person had blamed Lucy. Not one had said to just hand her over.

Lucy didn't think she'd ever been loved so unconditionally. Or rather, her Mother had never been tested the same way Fairy Tail had.

She watched the Master pacing over the guild grounds muttering and sketching ideas. She heard the council army wrapping up their investigation. She smelt the persisting ozone from the firing of Jupiter. She felt the rough texture of Levy's bandages under her hands. She tasted the salt in the tears that still ran down her face.

It all weighed her down and pressed in on her. It could happen again. It _would_ happen again.

Unless she stopped it.

Even if it was painful for her to go back to that house. It would be unbearable to watch this all over. To know it was because of her.

She couldn't carry the guilt of betraying that unconditional love. Fairy Tail saved her, now she would save Fairy Tail.


	18. Viral

18. Viral.

Nothing like this had ever happened to Hundred Night Hibiki before. His one weakness had never been exploited quite so successfully, or with such a lingering effect. Every time he searched through the Archive, he found _that_ image. No matter what he was looking for, it came up.

It was as if Gemini had somehow infected his magic.

Whenever he opened a psychic link he also had to be careful not to send that image to anyone else. Lucy would _not_ be pleased –and he knew what kind of high-level magic she was capable of.

When he woke up a good three months after the event still thinking of it, he wondered if Gemini had infected his mind rather than his magic.


	19. Romance Novel

19. Romance novel.

"Whoever it was that decided my life should read like a romance novel obviously forgot to add the romance!" Lucy moaned slumping down on the bar.

"A romance novel?" Mirajane asked, sliding a mug of hot chocolate over to Lucy without needing prompting. Sometimes she was psychic like that. Or she knew Lucy too well.

"I've got all the starring characters" Lucy said, slightly muffled from being face down on the bar "The Dragon, The Knight-in-Shining-Armour, The Loyal Companion, The Cute Sidekick, if you listen to Loke I've even got The Prince."

"Hmmm" Mirajane thought, tapping a perfectly manicured finger against her chin. She looked over to where Erza was breaking apart a fight between Natsu and Gray while Happy flew in circles over their heads. "Isn't it better this way?" she asked to which Lucy raised her head and discovered the hot chocolate "I don't think you would be satisfied if your life was a romance novel Lucy." the bartender winked "You're far more suited to be the heroine of an Epic."

"Thanks I think" Lucy replied, massaging her temples. She sighed and stood up, downing the drink quickly "I better get over there or we'll never get going, later Mira"

"Mm, take care Lucy" Mirajane smiled as Lucy walked back to her team. Really, if that girl thought there was no romance in her life she wasn't looking hard enough.

But it'd be fun to watch her figure it out.


	20. Double Check

20. Double check.

"Hey, Lucy can I borrow you for a moment?"

"Only if you put some clothes on first." Gray looked down at himself and realised he was infact missing ninety-nine percent of his clothing.

"Huh, look at that"

"I'd rather not" Lucy replied, holding out the pair of cargos he'd shed earlier. He pulled them on quickly and looked for the shirt he'd also lost. Finding that he pulled it on, leaving the buttons undone –it was only going to come off again in the next few minutes anyway.

"Now then, you know what you're looking for" he said, pushing his fringe up "is that mark still there?"

"Hmmmmm, I thought you didn't care?" she asked, leaning forward to examine the Ice Alchemist's forehead anyway. "It's really faint but it's still there. I guess Deliora left a permanent mark on you after all."

"Yeah, but at least it's on the outside now." Gray responded to which Lucy hummed noncommittally. Gray's eyes narrowed and focused on her as she leaned back "And you? Are your scars all on the outside now?"

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise. The look quickly faded into affection and she smiled "Is that what this is about? Me going home?"

Gray shrugged and looked away "It's a hassle if you're going to disappear off like that. If you'd seen Erza's face when she found your note… and Natsu and Happy were completely unreasonable…"

"You seemed to be keeping pace with them when you came after me." Gray kept his face averted but Lucy could see the slight tinge of pink across his cheeks. Of course, he'd been equally worried. "I guess it doesn't matter where my scars are." She continued, tone serious now and Gray turned to look at her. "Because I've got you all looking out for me, right?"

"Well I suppose I can check on you every so often…" Gray responded vaguely in an attempt to keep his pride. Lucy giggled and started walking away.

"Just do me one favour. Check yourself before you check on me. Infact, double check."

Gray looked at her retreating back in confusion before looking down at himself and realising he'd somehow lost all his clothes. Again.


	21. Keys

21. Keys

There was no lock made without a key. Even when you thought you'd buried the key, hidden it so deep nobody could ever find it, locks rusted or were forced.

Erza locked her heart behind a wall of steel. But she couldn't really claim to be surprised to find things had slipped inside.

She _was_ surprised at how easy it was to open up again. First Makarov, then Gray, Natsu, Mira, Cana, Macao -all of Fairy Tail seemed to have somehow acquired a copy of her key. It made no difference if she tried to lock herself away or not.

No, there was no hope of locking her heart away again. It would hurt her and everyone else more than sharing it with them. These people had all become precious to her, she couldn't lock those feelings away.

There was no more need of keys. She would be open now. She would fight to _live_ alongside them. To share their hearts together.


	22. Caught RedHanded

22. Caught red-handed.

_Someone_ was in Lucy's home. There was a faint shuffling and bumping that did not belong in the night-time resonance of her tiny rented apartment.

She quickly ruled out the usual suspect; Natsu. The Dragon Slayer stomped and bumped his way around her flat without much concern for disturbing her. Even during the night when she was trying to sleep. This person was _trying_ to be quiet.

She ruled Gray out quickly too. He at least had _some_ concept of social boundaries (with the exception of public nudity) and only broke into her house during the day, usually to tell her something or fetch her for a mission. No mission ever left at this time of night.

Eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling Lucy very slowly moved her hand under the covers until she had a grip on her key-ring. Even slower, so the metal didn't clink, she disengaged Taurus's key and held it ready.

She could just make out a human-shaped patch in her room now. By her vanity seemingly with its back turned to her. Carefully she pulled the covers back and soundlessly slid her feet to the ground.

Making no noise (this was _her_ home, she knew where every squeaking floorboard was) she crossed the room to the light switch. Key at the ready she took a deep breath to compose herself (she was a Fairy Tail mage, she could handle anything) and flipped the light.

"Freeze!"

She yelled the command with every ounce of confidence she possessed. The effect was somewhat ruined by the undignified "Huh!" that followed immediately after as she recognised the interloper.

Standing there with a bright brush across her face and her hands well inside Lucy's underwear draw was Erza Scarlett.

"Y-you really wear these?" she stammered holding up a particularly lacy pair.

Lucy let her head slam against the wall and then and there gave up on ever finding a shred of normalcy in her team. She also thanked the stars she hadn't actually called Taurus.


	23. Sand

23. Sand.

Lucy loved going to the beach. There were few places she could think of that were more relaxing. Anytime the guild organised a trip, she was the first to sign her name up.

Beaches meant sunbathing and picnics, swimming and ice-cream, sandcastles and all-round fun. There was plenty to distract Natsu and Gray from bothering her overmuch–volleyball, fishing, swimming ("Natsu! Don't evaporate the water!"). She could catch up on some reading while working on a tan ("I'm not going to die from a sunburn Loke, if you want to be useful go get me an ice-cream and _I'll_ put the lotion on."). She could lie supine in the sand, running her hands through sun-warmed hair (was there any texture nicer?) in utter relaxation for hours. In the evening before they came back there would be a barbeque with enough food to satiate everyone ("Mira, can I have another?"). The whole day would be packed with fun.

Yes, Lucy loved going to the beach. She was slightly less keen on brining it home with her. There was _always_ sand in her hallway for months afterwards no matter how well she cleaned. The moment she stepped through the door she could hear Cancer's disapproving voice "Saltwater-ebi?" –he always knew, even if she washed and conditioned her hair three times before calling him. Cleaning out her bath was always a hassle too.

But, still; one day at the beach was worth sand in her shoes for a week.


	24. Contents Under Pressure

24. Contents under pressure.

I suppose skipping stones at the small pond in Magnolia's southern park was not the first place one would expect to find the Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel.

In perfect honesty it's probably somewhere around number forty on the list. After out on missions, scrap yards, anywhere with a high metal density and even, embarrassingly, the hospital.

But, just like the rest of us, Dragon Slayers need downtime to think and reflect. The stones flew from his fingers mechanically as his mind worked behind steely eyes. He was averaging eleven skips without trying –skipping stones was something Metalicana _couldn't do_ so Gajeel had cultivated the skill just to have _one_ point over his master (Dragons aren't exactly known for their opposable thumbs).

Had he been trying, he could probably have made twenty skips. But, like I said, just then Gajeel was _thinking_.

No, lack of thought is not an attribute shared by all Dragon Slayers. You could be forgiven for thinking so though.

He had a fair amount to think about too. Playing the role of double-agent is never an easy task. You have to keep yourself straight, remember what you've said to whom and most importantly _which side you're on_.

Gajeel hadn't quite made up his mind about that yet. Phantom Lord had been toying with the line of being a Dark Guild –no they didn't accept assassination requests or blatantly ignore the rest of the council's rules, but if you happened snap the necks of a couple of thugs you'd been asked to apprehend nobody would kick up a fuss. Gajeel missed that grey zone. Fairy Tail was all light and second chances; Raven Tail was all darkness and revenge.

And he did want revenge. Phantom Lord had been his _home_. He'd been powerful, respected –not reduced to kissing the dirt by some pink-haired brat.

And he did want a second chance. He had been unspeakably cruel to some of the members (Levy, Jet, Droy and Lucy –he rarely used their names but he _knew _them). After a few rough patches they'd accepted him, the feeling was… warm.

That and the food in Fairy Tail is exquisite. Take my word on this –cheapness is _not_ the reason so many members eat in the guild.

Makarov was playing the long game though. The confrontation with Raven Tail and his son was a way off yet. Gajeel would not be forced to choose his colours for a while.

That left the _other_ issue.

The stone currently in his hand crumbled to a fine dust from the pressure he used to squeeze it. His teeth ground and his whole body trembled with emotion. An annoyed Gajeel is a scary sight, let me tell you; a nearby water-lily just upped and withered under his gaze.

Yet, no matter how he thought about it he simply couldn't resolve the situation to his satisfaction. To call him frustrated would be putting his feelings on the matter lightly.

The issue in question?

Why did Natsu and Wendy have cats while he _didn't_!


	25. You have quite a collection

25. "You have quite a collection."

_It scares me sometimes, how good a person Lucy is._

"That's why I need your help you see; you're the only one who can open the gate on your own. It takes a lot of the magic pressure off me."

Loke's head tilts to the side, his arms crossing over his torso as he hums in thought "I suppose so… You have quite a collection. Nine golden keys as well, of course you want to use them fully but…"

_There's nothing in that girl's heart but trust and affection. Utter devotion to the people she cares for._

"I… I understand if you don't want to" she replies softly looking down "After all if I can learn to summon two spirits, you lose the ability to protect the others."

Loke jumps a little, arms loosening in shock "Wh-what!" he gasps, quickly realising her train of thought he becomes more upset than angry, though he hides it well "Idiot! I'm not worried about that! I'm worried about **you!**"

"Me?" she sounds confused, as if it wasn't a spirit's job to protect their master.

"Of course! Calling once zodiac spirit after another takes such a toll on you! And that one time…" He falls silent, trying so hard not to remember the feelings that possessed him when Lucy nearly died on his account.

_So I try to repay it as much as I can. She makes it difficult though, not intentionally of course. She just doesn't seem to realise how much I – rather, how much we all worry._

"That's why… I have to become stronger."

"No you don't!" He insists, still clinging on to anger to hide the hurt and fear "It's okay to rely on us! On me! I'll protect you always!"

"But if I don't get stronger how do I protect you?"

_Or maybe we're the ones who don't realise how blessed we truly are._


	26. Garden

26. Garden.

Out here, in the frigid tundra, there were very few things that were fashionable as opposed to functional. Actually Ul supposed there were none at all. Even for a mage as powerful as herself, one small mistake could be the end of it. If your bag couldn't carry that extra ration, if your home couldn't take that gust of wind, if your torch went out in the dark…

No, there was nothing 'pretty' out here. Just snow and ice for miles around.

So Ul rebelled against nature. She would make it pretty. Every summer, her rose garden bloomed. Each flower was different, each petal defined. The summer light shone through the ice and refracted a rainbow spectrum.

Her students, even her daughter, never understood the garden. A waste of time and magic. But this was Ul, blossoming quietly where no-one else did. Making something beautiful where there was nothing.

That was her shape. Something beautiful. A light in the dark.


	27. Spilling the Beans

27. Spilling the beans.

"Oi Lucy!" Natsu yelled, bursting out of the guild door. The Stellar spirit mage jumped in her seat, but didn't turn to face him "You gotta get back in here, Gray's challenged _Cana_ to a drinking match!"

"I-I'll be right there" She called back, still not facing him. Natsu's happy expression quickly faded into absolute seriousness as he watched his friend. When she'd excused herself for fresh air earlier, he hadn't thought much of it. The guild was absolutely packed and sweltering, even for him, a party in full-swing. But her voice just now hadn't been the usual Lucy. And something smelled… off.

"Whats wrong?" He asked, and she jumped again, realising how much closer his voice was.

"N-nothing, I'm fine" She responded, turning her head to look at him. She smiled that bright Lucy-smile, but Natsu knew her better than that. Her hands were twisting the hem of her skirt, her eyes were over bright and he was close enough now to smell the salt in her tears, even if they were no longer on her face.

"Tell me." It wasn't really a command or instruction. But it wasn't exactly a request either. Lucy glanced at him as he sat heavily on the bench, a leg on either side, leaning forward on his hands to keep eye contact. He grinned toothily at her and prompted again "C'mon, if something's bothering you just tell me and I'll deal with it."

She smiled a little, very small and rather sad, but _there_ at least and turned to look down at her hands -still playing with the edge of her skirt "It's not really the kind of thing you can deal with Natsu."

"Hey" he said, shifting his weight to one hand to point at himself with the thumb of the other "You underestimating me Lucy? You should know I can deal with anything." He put his hand back down and waited. The trouble with Lucy though, was she thought too much. Sure she complained about the little things; rent, food, him destroying half a town, stuff like that. But when something was really bothering her, she thought about it, maybe wrote about it, but never actually _told_ anyone about it. Natsu thought they'd sorted that out after the whole Phantom incident, but Lucy wouldn't be Lucy if she didn't think. Like _hell_ was he going to let anything hurt her like that again though, even if he had to be slightly sneaky to make her tell him "Don't you trust me?"

Lucy's eyes widened dramatically and she whipped around to face him, practically nose-to-nose, her hair falling out of its careful arrangement and across her face "Of course I do! It's just…" She lowered her head again, but Natsu could still see the tears starting to form in her eyes "that song… that last song Mira sang…"

She paused a moment to collect herself, and Natsu took the opportunity to try and remember. Mira had been singing on and off all night, the last song before Lucy excused herself… Had been pretty upbeat and cheerful. He'd even been tapping his foot along with the rhythm as he ate all the food on the table.

"That was mamma's favourite song." Lucy finally managed "W-we danced to it every time… her birthdays or mine… L-last time I heard it she was…" Lucy started to sob quietly and turned again so he was once more looking at her profile. Natsu had heard enough though, and he understood, oh how he understood.

"Only with her, huh?"

Lucy nodded and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand "Sorry" she said quietly, trying to straighten herself up. Natsu stood up and held out his hand to her

"Come on then" He said, keeping his hand out as she only looked up in confusion. "Geez Lucy, I told you I'd deal with it, c'mon" she continued to look up at him confused and he rolled his eyes "We'll ask Mira to sing again and I'll dance with you. It's a pretty good tune right? Should be fun rather than sad, so I'll make sure you enjoy it. I'm pretty sure she'd want that."

Slowly a smile started to spread across her face and she put her hand in his larger one, allowing him to pull her up and start guiding her back inside "Do you even know how to dance Natsu?"

He blushed and looked away "I said it'd be _fun_. Not that it'd be any _good_." On the inside though he was smiling; Lucy had actually told him.


	28. Steam

28. Steam.

In Fairy Tail, when a comrade asked for help, you helped. Gray was aware of this, had been both benefactor and beneficiated through this system. He wouldn't turn his back on any member of Fairy Tail. However there were certain rules that came with the system.

Like when Loke asked you for help introducing him to some girl you knew, you warned the girl in advance. Or when Reedus asked for help with a model you found the single most comfortable pose you could. When Erza asked a favour you didn't hesitate, it was far less painful that way.

When Natsu asked for help, you prepared for the end of the world. Because when did Natsu ever ask for help?

Unfortunately Natsu hadn't been able to say much more than "Help me Gray!" -even that was paraphrased to cut out the panicked stuttering. So Gray had no way of knowing how the world was going to end.

"Help how? Natsu what's wrong?" He demanded, fighting his own panic. As much as he would like to rub it into the Dragon Slayer's face that he was asking for help… _**he**_ was asking for help.

"Y-you knew… you said it before…" Natsu panted out, eyes unfocused and Gray only got more confused

"Knew what! What did I say?"

"only wanted to tell her… not answering…"

"Who!" Gray demanded, taking hold of Natsu's shoulders and shaking him a little, hoping to knock enough sense into him to get a clear answer

"…steam everywhere, got closer…" Natsu continued his disjointed story. Gray decided shaking wasn't going to get any sense into his thick skull so, naturally, he pulled back a fist as far as he could before punching Natsu squarely on the jaw. Natsu staggered back a bit from the force and blinked in confusion before lucidity returned to his eyes. He gripped Gray's shoulders mirroring what the Ice Alchemist had done earlier "Gray! I need you to tell me what a cliché is!"

"_you said it before… wanted to tell her… not answering… steam everywhere_"

"A cliché?" Gray said slowly as his mind put two and two together and tried very hard to understand the concept of four. "You" he began but interrupted himself. There was no way Natsu was that dense right?

"_wanted to tell her… not answering… steam everywhere, got closer_"

Of course there was. This was Natsu after all. Gray took a calming breath and closed his eyes before voicing his theory.

"You walked in on Lucy in the bathroom didn't you?"


	29. Wizard of Oz

AN: For Mooncry, who requested a certain line. You'll know it when you read it

* * *

29. Wizard of Oz.

"Lucy's gone insane." Natsu stated when Mirajane asked why he and Happy were noticeably-less-than-cheerful. "She's done seven jobs in two days, all the little cheap ones on the board."

"That's not really unusual Natsu, most of the mages here do small jobs more often; there are only a few of you who take the longer high-paying ones."

"She's doing it for a pair of shoes." He responded flatly, as if this explained everything. When Mira only raised an eyebrow he elaborated "If it was for rent or food that'd be ok, but shoes? She has like a thousand pairs already!"

"You obviously don't understand fashion Natsu" Gray chipped in. Natsu snorted derisively

"You're the _last_ person I want to hear that from, stripper."

"At least I have a sense of fashion; you're not even wearing a shirt!"

"Neither are you!"

"Yeah but _I_ look good without one!"

For once Mira decided not to let the boys fight and interrupted what would have escalated into a brawl "Yes, yes Gray, you're too sexy for your shirt, now go put some pants on." Gray let out a small yelp realising he was wearing less than he'd thought and Mira turned to Natsu "Isn't it a good thing?" she asked "There's something Lucy wants so she's working hard to get it, you should be cheering her on."

"But none of the jobs involve beating anyone up" Natsu sighed and Mira gave up. The inner workings of a fashion-driven girl were not something he was ever going to understand.

Mira got it though, and when Lucy turned up the next day in a pair of ruby red, sparkling shoes she considered taking a few jobs herself.


	30. Talking Animals

30. Talking animals.

That first time, before Natsu tricked her into agreeing to be his teammate, she had actually believed he'd understood Plue.

After all, he'd been raised by a Dragon and had a talking cat as a friend. Who knew what Igneel had taught him, or what he'd had to teach Happy to learn their language.

The second time, right before she ran into Loke, Happy got as far as the word "Aye" before she cottoned on. Considering the cat's speech patterns that didn't take long. Ventriloquism would never be one of his strengths.

Plue did not and would not speak a word of her language.

But as she stumbled home, tears in her eyes and her Father's harsh demand for money still ringing in her ears, she didn't particularly mind. She had no sooner collapsed inside the door than tiny arms were wrapped around her, hugging fiercely.

Plue didn't speak a word, but he understood perfectly.


	31. Hidden in Plain Sight

31. Hidden in plain sight.

"W-wobbling"

In fairness to him, Natsu had been talking about himself. It was Hibiki and Sagittarius who took things too far. Although it's possible that the only reason Natsu was able to speak at all was because he felt so much better after being exposed to some of the most fantastic female anatomy he was ever likely to see.

It wasn't like he hadn't _known. _It was kind of hard to avoid the fact –Lucy had breasts.

But he'd seen Lucy every day for a while now. In bathing suits, wet shirts, even wearing as little as a towel sometimes. There really wasn't much his imagination had left to fill in.

How the heck he'd gotten it so wrong was a mystery.

Lucy really _did_ have sex appeal.


	32. Spoon

32. Spoon.

Jose understood the value of money. He had been born with the figurative silver spoon in his mouth and raised as landed gentry. When, through a steward's spectacular mismanagement, his standard of living had been reduced from "luxurious" to "common" the lesson he learned was not humility.

Power, respect, peerage, land –all of these could be bought. When the money ran out they could also be taken away.

Infact he found it to be a perpetual cycle. If you were clever, money could be turned into power and respect. Power and respect attracted more money and your power grew. It didn't matter if you started at power or money, so long as you had one the other would follow and both would grow. If you lost one, there was a fair chance you could lose the other.

Jose had power though. He had magical power in spades. The best way to capitalise on this was through a guild. He built Phantom Lord up to the very pinnacle of excellence, more requests came to them than any other guild in Fiore, and the cash came rolling in. Until he started to hear rumours; Salamander of Fairy Tail was powerful they said. Titania Erza of Fairy Tail had defeated another S-class demon. Mystogan of Fairy Tail seemed to have mastered _another_ school of magic. Lucky Lucy Heartfilia, heiress to the fortune of Heartfilia Rail had joined Fairy Tail they said.

Having had his entitlement stolen from him once, he wasn't going to allow the upstart Fairy Tail to take his prestige. Fairy Tail and Heartfilia both would be broken if he had to.

What he failed to understand before it was too late, was that wooden spoons work in the same manner as silver ones, and anyone may earn power.


	33. Trash can

33. Trash can.

When they had saved the guild and everything had settled back down, Lucy remembered to be angry. Gray should have expected it really. After the stunt he pulled nothing short of their comrade's impending demise would have distracted her from exacting retribution.

Now that everyone _was_ safe, Gray was suffering under a combination of "the silent treatment" and a malevolent glare that practically screamed "One step closer to me, _peasant_, and the seven circles of hell will seem like a holiday resort."

Gray was quite happy to abide by this but Erza thought differently. At every opportunity she sent Gray to inform the Stellar Spirit mage of quests, guild events or any errand she could think of in the hopes that they would patch things up, but without knowing exactly why Lucy was upset (the girl was far too embarrassed to explain and Gray knew better than to tell _anyone_) she couldn't force them back into being friends.

Eventually though, Gray found himself stuck under Erza's "Do what I tell you or suffer a fate worse than any hell you can imagine" glare and decided it was time to make good with Lucy again. It really wasn't fair that he was associated with two women capable of emptying a room with one look.

Gray braced himself and after dressing appropriately –with as many buckles and laces as he could find to hinder his stripping tendencies- broke into Lucy's home. In retrospect, while this_was_ the usual mode of entrance it was quite possibly _a bad idea_. If Lucy's glare was anything to go by, which it was considering it actually made _him_ shiver.

"How do I make it up to you, Lucy?" He asked, getting straight to the point. He had a feeling that prolonged exposure to that icy glare would give him a cold.

"Make up?" She asked flatly and Gray was both relieved to hear her actually talk to him and terrified of the dark un-Lucy-like tone. She twisted in her chair to face him fully, idly twirling the pen she'd been writing with in her hand "You want to make up for tossing me at a high-speed death trap?"

Gray flinched at the phrasing. Lucy was a writer; the words she chose were possibly more important than their individual meaning. Perspective was everything. "For propelling you to Natsu's rescue." he said "Without warning… rather ungracefully" he added hoping to appease her slightly.

"You _tossed_ me into harms way like… like…" Lucy stammered, her Ice-Queen demeanour melting under much more Lucy-esque fury "like **trash**!" she finished at least five decibels louder than she'd started. This was progress Gray decided –furious Lucy was much easier to deal with than the silently-plotting-your-demise version.

"Someone had to save Natsu. Without Happy around I couldn't think of any other way to get one of us up there so quickly and still be able to deal with the guy on the ground" He defended "and it worked, you were brilliant."

"Flattery will get you nowhere" Lucy seethed, but her glare had softened to a more tolerable level.

"So, how do I make it up?" he asked with a charming smile. Lucy, clinging desperately onto the last of her anger and wounded pride cast about herself for some means of revenge, however petty.

The charming smile was wiped from Gray's face when Lucy's wastepaper basket was upended over his head. Thankfully it was mostly full of scrunched up paper and was a small price to pay –but he really could have lived without the banana peel perched fetchingly on the end of his nose.

Lucy smiled in satisfaction "Now we're even."


	34. Just Like Magic

34. Just like magic.

Every woman owns a dress she's probably never going to wear again. It would have been bought for some special occasion and considered too pretty to throw out or pass on to a friend. It will hang nicely, looking appealing every time she goes through her clothes for something to wear, but there will never be an occasion to put it on again, or if there is she will have grown (or, in rare cases, shrunk) out of it.

The woman will look at it from time to time, remembering briefly how good she looked and how wonderful she felt and how the event seemed to pass by like magic. Eventually however, she has to decide what to do with this dress.

For Erza the matter was simple. Unless it was ruined irreparably she didn't throw anything away. One entire wall of one of her rooms was given over to dresses she wasn't likely to wear again. She even had a couple in her ex-space –just in case.

For Lucy it was a different story and she stared at the wine-red dress with equal parts contempt and nostalgia.

In it's favour it suited her. The cut, the flow, the colour all perfectly tailored to her. If she ever had cause to go to a classy restaurant or meet someone well-to-do, this would be the choice.

Against it was the fact this was the dress Bora had attempted to kidnap her in. She only had to look at it to remember the incident and the stupidity she'd been under to fall not only for Charm but the pseudo-charm as well.

But then again it was _her_ dress. One she'd bought with her own funds, tailored as _she_ liked it. Not one forced upon her by her Father.

But she'd been dropped into the ocean in it. Anything she could associate with Aquarius usually brought painful recollections.

She stared at it for a long time before the memory of an outstretched hand and a bright smile imposed itself on her consciousness.

"Well you wanted to join our guild right? Come with me."

In the end, Lucy decided to keep the dress.


	35. Making Waves

35. Making waves.

The sea-breeze caught Lucy's hair blowing it out in front of her as she stood by the railings of the boat. She had a feeling she was going to regret this, she usually did, but she was absolutely sure if she got it wrong she'd regret it even more. Sighing she grabbed a golden key and called the incantation. Moments later Aquarius was before her, separated only by a suddenly flimsy looking piece of wood.

"What do you want brat?" the spirit demanded. Lucy took a quiet breath and smiled at her, determined to make this go smoothly.

"I want your opinion. On Scorpio's contract."

"Scorpio's-" Aquarius began with a blush, but cut herself off and glared at Lucy "A contract is only between key-holder and spirit."

"That's why I want your opinion only. Ultimately it'll be down to him, so; would it be good for you if he had the same days off?"

Aquarius stared at her in shock for a moment before finding the words to reply "Well of course. Wouldn't you want to have as much time as possible with your boyfriend? Oh wait, you don't _have-_"

"-Enough, enough." Lucy interrupted the sneering remark "you don't need to keep bringing that up. That's all I wanted to check, you can go back now."

"Why?" Aquarius asked, without her usual tone.

"I've always done what I can to try and keep my spirits happy. I guess it just never really worked with you" Lucy added with a self-depreciating laugh

"Thank you"

Lucy looked at the spirit in shock but Aquarius was already closing her gate. Before she was completely gone, Lucy was sure she saw a smirk and a wave of an arm.

The ship was caught on the swell of the next wave and picked up so much speed from it the sails went slack.


	36. Bubblegum

36. Bubblegum.

Natsu was going to die.

Imminently. Painfully. Probably humiliatingly.

And it was entirely Lucy's fault so he'd have to make sure to haunt her. Gray too, he'd had a hand in it. Actually if Gray hadn't picked a fight with him this wouldn't have happened so he'd haunt him first.

If he couldn't convince Erza to spare his life that was.

Who would have thought she was so sensitive about her hair? Then again Natsu never thought or he might have picked up on the blazingly obvious fact that she'd been named after the bold colour.

Damn Gray. Damn Lucy! If she hadn't suggested the bubble-blowing contest rather than their usual brawl…

No, actually, Erza would still probably have found a reason to want to kill them (read: _him_).

But Natsu wouldn't be trying to plead for his life around a fit of giggles –inspired by the pink gum trapped Erza's long red hair. Not a good state to be in when attempting to persuade said woman not to decapitate him.

"Erza! Don't move, I'll call Cancer to get it out –don't move or it'll tangle more!"

Ah, saved by Lucy. Okay, she got off without a haunting.

Natsu was never going near bubblegum again though. Jokes about it matching his hair he could stand; vicious mauling by Erza? No thank you.


	37. Shoulders

37. Shoulders.

Lucy stumbled a little and paused to redistribute Natsu's weight across her shoulders, eliciting a groan from the poor boy. Luckily, they were neither chasing a dark guild nor running in a building _full _of steps as they had been the first time Natsu was obliged to use Lucy-transport. Why a single-rail train station needed so many steps Lucy still hadn't figured out (and she knew a thing or two about trains).

But this time the fight was over and while there was no _immediate_ danger to them it was prudent to get as far away from the scene as possible.

Jobs with Natsu tended to end that way. It wasn't usually so bad that even _Happy_ was too fatigued to carry him. It wasn't usually so bad that he couldn't manage himself for that matter, but Lucy soldiered on.

That is to say, Lucy muttered and complained under her breath every step of the way. Until she realised that Happy had dropped off (on top of her _head_ no less) and that Natsu was moaning in the most pitiful way she'd ever heard when a thought occurred and she broke from her grumblings for (an attempt at) conversation.

"Hey, Natsu, I'm a comrade right?" Natsu managed an affirmative grunt "and Happy's a comrade?" another grunt "then why are you okay with him carrying you and not me?"

"S'dif'ret" He slurred in response and Lucy tilted her head to invite elaboration "know 'ow 'e wi-rks."

"How he works?" She asked, making sure she'd translated right and felt Natsu change his grip a little as he nodded cautiously.

"'ix years. E'ry day, hatched… him, fed, 'aught" Natsu paused for a deep breath before continuing "I know… Happy, 'tter 'n' he does."

Lucy considered this and admitted it made sense. If you'd spent every day in one person's company for six years and more you'd know them pretty well. Particularly when that person had initially been completely dependant on you.

She thought about the small cat currently on top of her head and all of the times he'd stuck out a paw to stop her from interfering with whatever Natsu was doing or just to explain the Dragon Slayer's overboard behaviour. Happy knew Natsu just as well: their trust in each other was so complete they probably didn't even need to talk out strategy between themselves anymore. She was the odd factor, never quite able to grasp Natsu's plans (and on a battlefield he has _thousands_) or Happy's instinct for exactly when to unfurl his wings (and he was _always_ ready to catch his partner).

"I hope you trust me like that someday" She didn't realise she had spoken aloud until she felt Natsu's grip tighten around her

"'rust you Lu'"

"Aye" a quiet voice seconded Natsu's and she realised Happy wasn't as asleep as she'd thought.

"Not the same way."

"We like you though" Happy said, even though Lucy could hear him falling back to sleep with every syllable "got time to… learn" she felt Happy's head collapse against her own again as he dropped back off and Natsu give her a brief squeeze (the closest he could manage to a hug at that moment) to show his agreement.

She smiled and continued on; time to learn. Happy was right, their adventures together were only just beginning.


	38. Ambiguous

38. Ambiguous.

Water could be many things; hot, cold, liquid, solid, gas, clear, murky, deep, shallow, flowing or stagnant. The barest alteration could make it tea, coffee, juice, stew or soup.

It could be the waves rolling gently on the shore. The drops that over a thousand years tunnelled through one pebble. The jet that in one second cut through a boulder.

The one thing it couldn't be was unnecessary. Water was _needed_, without it death was the only inevitability.

To say Juvia was like water was both true and false. Certainly she could be boiling with jealousy or frozen in fear –but then so could anyone, they just weren't capable of manifesting the emotions in the same manner she did. She had her moments of deep introspection, as well as shallow pettiness.

Blue eyes watched as Gray left once again with Lucy, Natsu and Erza.

Juvia was like water in many ways.

But perhaps not the most important one.


	39. Horror Movies

39. Horror Movies.

Lucy had the comfiest bed in the history of beds ever. That was Natsu's opinion on the matter anyway. It was soft but firm, neither too hot or too cold and just springy enough that you didn't sink into it but couldn't tell where the springs were –if there even were any. Unfortunately she was less than generous in letting him use it.

However, he discovered a sure-fire way of getting to spend the night in that bed haven.

Watching films on Lacrima Crystals was nothing new to them. When they had an evening spare one of them would pick up a couple of films to watch while the other bought the food.

One day Natsu happened to pick up a horror movie.

Natsu got to sleep in Lucy's bed that night. Infact she insisted on it.

Unfortunately he had Lucy clamped onto him like a limpet all night. He would still have to figure out how to get the bed to himself.


	40. Sweet Tooth

40. Sweet tooth.

I consider myself a reasonable woman. I don't ask for much, however when something of mine is taken you understand that I will go to whatever length is necessary to retrieve it.

It's a Friday and I have received payment from my last mission. You have all known me long enough to understand what this means. It's a ritual I should have no need to explain. Certainly not twice.

Although perhaps there are newcomers to the guild who do not have the benefit of experience. For their sake I shall be lenient and will not repeat the lesson Natsu learned so well last time. However this leniency comes with conditions.

First! The perpetrator comes forth or is given up. Mab, if you spent more time looking at the board than the hall you might take a job. Cana, your inelegant position does allow a good view of your surroundings. Reedus, you observe everyone as you sketch. Someone must have seen what happened here.

Second! I am compensated by said perpetrator. One month's worth should be sufficient for the inconvenience to myself as well as the time and energy I have already invested in this matter.

Thirdly! As is the custom I shall count to three –with my back turned. When I look again an _entire_ strawberry cake will be awaiting me to replace the slice now missing.

Should these conditions not be met, the punishment I enacted on Natsu in the first instance of this atrocity will be meted out tenfold. To knowingly come between me and my strawberry cake is unpardonable!


	41. Wrong Button

AN: Another request from the lovely Mooncry -LucyxLoke featuring the "Nya Nya" song (just type that into youtube, you'll find it). I've also changed my spelling practices, Grey is now Gray, Loki is Loke, Jubia is Juvia, and Levi is Levy, I'll be retrospectively updating the previous chapters to reflect this -I don't think those on alerts will be notified, but just incase you are, this is the warning.

* * *

41. Wrong button.

Since the fight against Angel, Loke had been trying to find a moment to talk to Lucy. There hadn't really been time since; he had to recover, as did Lucy, and right now the guild was in the middle of a party to welcome the newest member –Wendy. Lucy, one of the heroes of the hour and the best storyteller among them, was in constant demand to tell the tale of the battle against the Oración Seis. Loke could only watch from a distance as she and Natsu sat together receiving their due praise.

Not that he didn't think she deserved said praise, but something in his gut twisted at the sight and…

…why was it so hard to get a moment alone?

Still, he had plenty enough experience getting some time alone with women. This was a party after all, so there was really only one thing for it. Putting his most charming smile on he pushed his way through the crowd at the bar and leaned across waiting to catch Mira's eye.

Mira saw the look he was giving her and frowned in confusion. She'd seen that look before, many times, but never directed at her. "Loke?"

"My dear Mira, I wondered if you could arrange it so the next song is a fast one, and then maybe a couple of slow dances?"

Mira smiled back at him, a hint of nostalgia touching her eyes "That can be arranged, don't break too many hearts now Loke."

"Wouldn't dream of it" He threw back with a wink and turned to his next target. Timing would be everything here, he paused for a couple of beats until he was sure he knew exactly where the current song was before making his way back towards Lucy. "Pardon me ladies and gentlemen, but I'm kidnapping this lovely lady" he announced breaking into the circle surrounding her and sweeping her –mid sentence- into his arms.

"Loke what the heck!" Lucy protested struggling –but not too hard he noticed- to be released as he took long strides towards the dance floor, ignoring the catcalls of (who else?) Happy.

"Now, now, Lucy –it's a party, a beautiful girl like you should be dancing. There's a new song starting, shall we?"

"Well we're here already" she sighed, resigned, but smiled as he set her on her feet and spun her, catching her hands in the traditional pose. She burst into laughter when he led her into a tango while all the other couples on the floor were trying their best not to stand on each other's toes.

"There now, aren't you having fun?" he asked in a slow passage after a series of twists and dips. The tango clearly wasn't her best dance but it was obvious she'd had some dance training, and Loke knew how to lead. To the others watching they may as well have been professional dancers.

"Very much" she beamed and laughed as he twirled her again.

"I'm glad." Something in his voice or expression caused her to blush and their movements slowed as the song drew towards it's conclusion "Lucy… I've been meaning to thank you…"

"For what?" she asked, breathless, eyes locked with his.

"I'm not entirely sure." He admitted "For saving Aries I suppose, for what you were willing to do… For being yourself, for thinking the way you do." At some point his hand had moved to brush her hair back behind her ear and now lingered there, slowly trailing down with the barest of touches against silken locks.

"Of course I… that's not really something I can help… you're -every spirit… you're all…" As she blushed and stammered her way through her response her head drifted towards his palm, sub-consciously encouraging the contact "you're a person, just like me."

Loke smiled "Yeah…"

**NYA NYA NYA~!**

They (and everyone else in the guild) jumped at the sudden blast of sound over the loudspeakers. "Sorry –wrong button!" a rather sheepish Mirajane apologised changed the track, much to Happy's displeasure –he'd jumped onto the bar and started dancing the moment the track began.

"And he calls me weird" Lucy giggled, watching Mira try to console the cat. The promised slow song began but Loke was too stunned to take advantage, he continued to stare at Lucy as if realising what he'd just been doing.

"May I cut in here?" Someone asked. Alzack he realised, quickly pasting a smile on his face.

"Yes, of course -my princess, I'll see you later" and pressing a kiss to Lucy's hand, passed her across and disappeared into the crowd before she had the opportunity to protest.

He was thankful for the interruption –both of them. He loved Lucy. Truly, madly, deeply –considering all they'd been through he could do no less. But he'd just realised how very close he was to being _in love_ with her.

There were a thousand and one reasons why this would be a bad idea -her mortality and his immortality being the most obvious issue. Falling in love with Lucy would _not _be wise. He needed a distraction and fast.

Dating. When he got back to the Spirit world he'd organise a few dates. That'd keep his mind occupied and off Lucy.

Conveniently ignoring the fact that throwing himself at women had never worked to take his mind off a certain person before.

_Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results._

_Synonyms: Love._


	42. Prize

AN: I try to avoid AN's, two in a row is really bad for me, but this needs it -I don't know what game the girls are playing. Just think of it as a magical version of scrabble... If you could fit "Prestidigitation" on an actual scrabble board in one turn I'd never lose... **Oh, you may require a dictionary for this chapter**

* * *

42. Prize.

"I've been waiting for this moment. I knew we'd face each other."

"Yeah, right at the final showdown. Pretty dramatic."

"I hope you're ready to lose, McGarden."

"Heh, bring it on, Heartfilia."

* * *

The mood in the hall was tense. So tense that even Jet and Droy couldn't bring themselves to cheer their leader on. The only sound that broke the oppressive silence was the quick clicking of tiles as each girl made their move. Levy seemed to break ahead with "Sesquipedalianism" but Lucy made a remarkable comeback using "Syzygy". Levy had no way to counter so Lucy pushed the advantage with "Prestidigitation". This gave the bluenett the opportunity for "Plenipotentiary" but Lucy immediately unleashed "Defenestrate". Levy countered again with "Empyrean" and Lucy hesitated a long moment before rejoining with "Braggadocio".

Levy raised an eyebrow and changed her next move to "Scapegrace". Lucy, watching her opponents body language as much as her moves, narrowed her eyes and returned in kind; "Rapacious". Levy smirked and laid out "Egregious". From there the match descended into chaos "Nescience" was followed by "Impecunious", "Pablum", "Grotesque", "Flibbertigibbet" and would probably have descended all the way to "Inimical" had time not been called.

The competitors stood silently as the scores were counted. Slowly they grew impatient as the judges conferred amongst themselves and re-counted. Eventually one spokesman stepped forward

"It's a very close match ladies. We may be counting some time before we determine who won. You may as well go home and we'll contact you when we reach a decision."

"Eh? But the book!" Lucy gasped and the spokesperson looked bemused

"Book?"

"The prize" Levy continued. "The signed, first-edition copy of 'Without Light' by Kemu Zaleon"

"No way are we leaving without that!" Lucy finished

The spokesperson laughed nervously under the gaze of the two girls "Ah, but that's just for the winner…"

"We'll tie, we'll share" Levy insisted and Lucy nodded vigorously "A treasure like that needs to be taken care of properly."

The spokesperson took a look at the board then back at the two girls who suddenly seemed to be the very best of friends despite some of the language they'd thrown at each other.

He decided then that even if he lived another fifty years he'd never understand girls.


	43. Please tell me that's your hand

43. "Please tell me that's your hand."

"You want to learn to ex-quip?" Erza asked, eyebrow raised in an arc, tea-cup midway to her mouth.

"Yes" Lucy replied with deadly seriousness, meeting Erza's sceptical gaze head-on.

"May I inquire why?"

"A lot of reasons" Lucy hedged, and when Erza made no response other than to raise that eyebrow higher, sighed and expanded; "So I don't lose my keys again, so I don't have to depend on Virgo finding me spirit-clothes when mine are inevitably wrecked, so I can work on my book wherever I am and so I always have a box of matches that hasn't been squashed or drenched."

"Matches? Ah, fire for Natsu's benefit?" Erza asked but didn't wait for a response "I suppose there are more advantages this way than simply learning fire-magic. Very well. You being a Stellar-Spirit mage will help –you already know how to connect to another space… hm, so the best way to learn would be to try to connect to my space. We can worry about setting up your own when you've got the basics down."

"You want me to start now?" Lucy asked

"Of course. You came to me for help so I will do my best to assist. Even if it comes to intensive training. Now reach out and try to find my space with your magic."

"It's really not important enough for intensive training" Lucy whined, but closed her eyes and focused on trying to locate the sub-space Erza used to carry her equipment in. "Ah, I think I've found it!" she cheered after a few minutes looking –considering the amount Erza carried with her it was a surprisingly small pocket.

"Good. Now, when I ex-quip I move everything exactly into position, swapping out whatever I'm currently wearing. You'll be using it for storage rather than battle so you won't need precision like I do… therefore, try reaching in and pulling something out –whatever you find first."

"You say that… but how do I reach in?" Lucy asked. Erza crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. It was something she did on a regular basis, but trying to explain it was another matter entirely.

"Sometimes…" she began "if your hands are wet and you catch a bubble it doesn't burst, right? It's similar to that, you cover your hands and arms in magic and reach through as if you were pushing into a bubble without breaking it. I simply call the things I want through the bubble with magic, but for you… it's probably best to try it that way. I'll demonstrate and you follow alright?" Lucy nodded and watched entranced as Erza's arm glowed brilliantly before seeming to disappear behind a wall that blocked only that appendage from view. She swallowed nervously and centred herself, focusing her magic into one arm she reached out…

And saw her own arm disappear into the void

"This feels so weird" Lucy said, looking at the point where her arm vanished, but feeling the hand beyond it. "Oh! I can feel something!"

"Ah, you should probably be careful Lucy, there are a lot of sharp weapons in there."

"_Now you tell me_" Lucy thought, but made no complaint. "It doesn't feel like a weapon it's… ah, it's you!"

"Me?" Erza asked looking confused.

"Yes that's your hand isn't it?" Lucy smiled, but the smile faded as Erza shook her head "Erza, it must be… Erza? Please tell me that's your hand." Erza simply held both her hands up for Lucy to see, she'd retracted hers the moment Lucy entered her space.

Lucy shrieked and pulled her arm out of ex-space "Why is there a hand in your ex-space!" she demanded, running high on adrenaline.

"I do carry a lot of valuable pieces with me, maybe someone tried to take one… ah! Yes, that would be the Diamond Blade. I cannot remember the mage's name now but he tried to steal it. Apparently he found the wrong end of it before I caught him." Erza replied nonchalantly.

All the colour drained from Lucy's face "E-Erza… I think I get how to fetch things… lets set up my own ex-space next time…"

"Next time? It'll be easy enough to do now."

"No, no" Lucy insisted standing up "I called a lot of spirits earlier. We should probably do this when I'm at full energy. Bye Erza!" she called, running off at full speed.

Erza smiled and looked up to the sky. "I hope you appreciate her, Natsu."


	44. Fairies

44. Fairies.

For a mage without a guild, finding work was difficult.

Not impossible. Just difficult. It got easier the higher level you were. S-class mages were sometimes specifically requested for missions. The problem was; without a guild, potential clients couldn't necessarily find you.

You couldn't exactly advertise your location either. Mages had a habit of making enemies, or at least rivals. While there were rules against and repercussions for attacking a guild (never mind what the guild might do in retaliation itself), a lone mage had no such protection.

It was possible for such a mage to be disheartened in this situation but Juvia of the Ocean clung to the one thread of kindness she had found, and continued to look into blue skies. Even from a distance, Fairy Tail was bright, blinding even. And while her eyes were mostly focused one way, she was not oblivious to everything else that went on.

The request boards were up faster than anticipated, those that could picked up extra missions for those still unable to work, comrades supported each other selflessly.

It did not seem such a bad thing to belong to that guild.

Gajeel, when she found him again (and it wasn't hard to pick up his trail –the wake he left behind tended towards the overly-destructive), did not agree.

"You want us to be bloody fairies?"

"Juvia is going to request to join, Gajeel-sama. Juvia does not like to leave Gajeel-sama alone, comrades… should protect each other."

"We stopped being comrades the moment Phantom was disbanded" Gajeel snorted back in response and Juvia changed tact.

"Juvia thinks Fairy Tail will now be more famous than Phantom Lord ever was. Fairy Tail will have more requests. Work will be easier to find. Gajeel-sama would not have to scavenge for scrap-metal." Gajeel turned away and said nothing but Juvia knew she had practically won. "If Gajeel-sama is scared that is understandable, but Juvia thinks Fairy Tail will be forgiving."

"I ain't scared! And I don't need forgiving!"

"But Gajeel-sama and Juvia both need money. Juvia thinks joining Fairy Tail would be best." Gajeel could not deny it and Juvia smiled

"I can't believe I'm doing this" He muttered and Juvia knew, at the very least, she had managed to protect one comrade.

That's what a Fairy would do after all.


	45. Maximum Volume

45. Maximum volume.

Over the years, he subtly started increasing the volume his music was playing at. Especially when the old man was lecturing him –which he usually was.

What did he have to learn anyway? He was already on the second floor, he completed more missions solo than he did with his 'team', excepting Mystogan and 'that guy' he was the strongest in the guild. Mystogan was terminally shy and 'that guy' was an idiot who accepted hundred-year missions.

Besides which the old man was a dithering fool who seemed intent on ruining Fairy Tail. He said nothing worth listening to.

It was too late by the time he realised he'd missed something vitally important in the noise. Suddenly he found himself on the outside.

And the silence was deafening.


	46. Out of Ink

46. Out of ink.

_Dear Mother_

_Been a while, hasn't it? I'm so sorry, but things have been really busy here. I've had to take so many missions to pay this months rent because Natsu keeps destroying stuff. He can be so annoying sometimes._

_I went on another big mission with Natsu, Gray and Erza –and Happy. Don't worry it wasn't an S-class or anything. Erza was so cool, I wish I could show you how quickly she changes her equipment. It's not even a case of 'blink and you miss it' you just miss it. I did get in a little trouble, but its okay, Natsu rescued me straight away. The only thing that went wrong was Gray stripping offended a few of the older villagers. We all agreed the compensation should come out of his share of the reward, so I actually have a little extra money this month. Maybe I should go out to lunch to celebrate, there's a really chic restaurant along the street that I've been meaning to try. I'll probably take Natsu along with me, a reward for not destroying anything this time! Maybe positive reinforcement will stop him doing that altogether._

_I haven't spoken to Dad since that time. But I check the papers every so often; Love & Lucky seems to be doing well. Not that I'm particularly worried about that man. Although I sometimes think you might be, so I try to keep an eye on the guild. When I'm not trying to keep Natsu going overboard that is._

_I suppose the good thing about that is when he does we need to do extra missions and I get more ideas for my book. I got four chapters written last week. I've never seen Levy so excited. Although I only got to give her three of them because Natsu came round and messed up all my stuff. I think he spends more time here than at his own place. Maybe he burnt it down?_

_I doubt that though, Natsu may be an idiot but he can control himself when he needs to. Maybe he just likes the company, can't blame him for that can we? Besides which… I think I—_


	47. Dismember

47. Dismember.

It was probably a good thing Lucy had been knocked unconscious. Even with her unwavering trust in him, fully conscious that he would sooner rip his own arms off than hurt a comrade, she would have been afraid of Natsu in that moment.

The men responsible were well beyond being merely 'afraid'.

"Which one?" Natsu growled, his body outlined in flames that only grew stronger with the lack in response "Which one of you hurt Lucy?" the men backed away from the over powering heat but Natsu suddenly lunged forward catching one in a vicious uppercut "Do I have to beat it out of you!" he yelled "BECAUSE I WILL!"

He never got an answer, not that it mattered. None of them ever came near Salamander's friends again.


	48. Fragile

48. Fragile

Children are robust, adaptable. Rough-and-tumble, eat-first-and-ask-later adventurers setting out to discover the huge, amazing world they were born into -and everything in it.

It's the parents whose hearts and minds are breakable. They live in a flux of joy and panic, the balance of which is so delicate a butterfly might tip it. Every shaking step is watched, every sneeze analysed, every tear catalogued.

But the parents are right, because they know; children, strong as they are, are learning, are watching the parents. One touch, one tender brush of a feather, could send them spiralling down the wrong path.

Layla Heartfilia knew she was going to die.

The same way she had known Love & Lucky would be the making of her. That the railroads would take off in Fiore. That her child would be a girl.

That her husband was a fantastic businessman, but a terrible Father.

Lucy, wide eyed, with scraped knees and muddy cheeks, needed connections that wouldn't be taken from her. Bonds that would teach her the value of love, trust and honour. Comrades that could save and guide her where Layla was unable to. Bonds that would be written across the stars to last until time ended and the heavens burnt down.

Friends, to tip the scales back when Layla was gone. To fill the gap in her heart that she would have to adapt to.

Such ties could be made with but a little magic. Because in the end magic is only a dilution of love and love achieves all things.

And there is _nothing _comparable to a Mother's love. Through that, Lucy would shine alongside the eternal stars.

Layla knew she was going to die.

But she could make sure that Lucy would be loved.

Lucy would be happy.


	49. Lost and Found

49. Lost and found.

_Encouragement_

Natsu and Lisanna had never needed each other. Natsu had been raised by a dragon to fend for himself. Lisanna had a brother and sister who still made lunches for her.

Natsu depended on himself and Happy. There wasn't a job they couldn't do alone. Lisanna was teamed up with the Demon Mirajane and Beast-arm Elfman. There was no job they were afraid to take.

But when Lisanna didn't come back Natsu hit a wall and advanced no further. The term "s-class mission" hung over him like a spectre. It took three years, the support of a new friend and the taunts of an old rival before he finally broke through the wall and reached the second floor.

In Gray's determination, Erza's proud gaze and Lucy's beautiful smile he found something he hadn't known he'd lost.

* * *

_Trust_

Elfman and Lisanna had never been at odds. Lisanna had better control of her magic but Elfman was the man in the family. He doted on his sisters and they adored him.

Once, perhaps twice, in his usual blundering way, he had made her cry in earnest. A hug was all it ever took to earn her forgiveness. She would smile up at him and the world would be right again.

But when Lisanna wouldn't wake up, no amount of hugs would stop either his own or Mira's tears. He had betrayed her expectations, failed to be the elder brother she loved when she needed him most. His magic, as slow to develop as it was, ceased advancing entirely. Until faced with the prospect of losing another most important person.

Then he found the faith in himself that he'd lost and turned to face his failures and his future.

* * *

_Purpose_

Mirajane and Lisanna had never argued. Lisanna had enough courage in her to stand up to the Demon when she was being unreasonable. Mira respected that too much to ever hold a grudge.

Mira presided over her family. She made sure they had jobs enough between them, that her younger siblings continued to train and they maintained that closeness of family even within the greater family of Fairy Tail.

But when Lisanna died, Mira's brash confidence that allowed her to handle the Satan Soul sealed itself along with her magic. It wasn't until she found herself in the unforgivable turmoil that pitted family against each other, faced with the prospect of watching a good man -a comrade- destroy her beloved brother that she discovered she yet had courage to stand in front of demons.

She found she had the courage to live life as she should always have done.

* * *

They found Lisanna had never been lost. Not from their hearts.


	50. Pass Me Another

**Extremely long** **AN **(sorry): I want to apologise for the wait for this chapter. I only meant to delay a few days after 49 while I touched it up, only to discover I didn't like it much and life kinda… happened. I still don't like it much, the flow is off entirely and life is still happening, but if I scrap it and re-write well… we could be months.

This is **supposed** to be the **last chapter** in Fairy Lore –because my prompt list only goes to fifty. However the few people I've mentioned this to seem upset about it, so, **if** my readers want to send me prompts or requests (one or two or ten, in a review or PM -rhyme unintentional- a phrase or a word, a scene you'd like to see… whatever :D ) then I may consider going another fifty chapters.

If not and I do finish Fairy Lore here, then thanks to everyone who reviewed, favoured, put me on alert+ or just read and enjoyed. In particular I want to thank **Mooncry** without whom you wouldn't have had Mirajane telling Gray he's 'too sexy for his shirt' in "Wizard of Oz" or Happy doing the Nya Nya dance in "Wrong button" –see? I do take requests! Thanks also to **Nika-nee** with whom I go over every new episode and manga chapter, if I have the characters down, it's because I've gone over them with her first (on that note, go read The Good Ship Titania, I gave her the prompt list for it and she's still managed to stun me into speechlessness with some of them. Her writing is uniformly **fantastic**) Thanks **I'm-too-emo-for-this **for unwavering NaLu support, **Alyson Metallium **for unwavering LucyLoke support (and reminding me of my beginnings as a fanfic author –I _have_ progressed!) and **AlionAcid **whose timely review put a smile on my face and pushed me into finally posting this.

Phew, note over, I hope to hear your prompts soon, if not, I'll see you in my next FT work

~Maddy

* * *

50. "Pass me another."

Lucy had read more than enough trashy romance novels to understand that love was probably the single most horrific experience one could go through. There was the fear of rejection, the pain if you had to watch your interest with someone else, the potential to destroy what relationship you already had, the possibility that you may act ridiculously out-of-character in order to please someone else. Love, she decided, invariably made idiots out of people.

So when she did fall in love, she realised that her only course of action was to call an emergency girl's night in and get utterly drunk. There was no more logic to it than going into denial about it –but at the very least she'd feel better for a while.

Erza's suite of rooms was turned into a haven of pillows, chocolates, cocktails, cosmetics and nail-file, as the girls went through the ritual of pamper-ourselves-before-gossip. Fortunately for Lucy's plans for the evening, Cana brought the drink along. Her not infrequent requests of "Pass me another" were met by the barrel rather than the glass and she was soon well on her way to peaceful oblivion. Erza meanwhile, made sure Wendy didn't get her hands on anything stronger than fruit juice.

"This had better be more than just a crush" Cana complained, watching as another of her 'boyfriends' was discarded, empty. At the very least Lucy hadn't decimated that one on her own –Levy and Juvia had helped.

"Nope" Lucy, slightly more-than-tipsy, swayed as she replied "i's actual love." The whole room turned to look at her expectantly now that she had opened the topic and she flushed "…probably"

"My, my, Lucy, don't tease!" Mirajane protested "At the very least tell us who it is you 'probably' love."

"Eh?" Lucy had the audacity to look surprised "You mean I'm not the last person to fig- to fig- fig- last to know?" apparently the word 'figure' was too complicated for Lucy's current state of inebriation.

"You're kidding right?" Cana asked "You're always off with Natsu and Gray, you have practically unlimited access to Loke… could be any of them -heck, depending on your preference maybe even Erza."

Lucy stared at Cana in shock, face bright red from more than just the alcohol. Erza, still completely sober, smiled benignly "I'd be honoured –but in that case wouldn't Levy be a better match?"

"That's a great idea! Why didn't I think of it!" Said blunette exclaimed, rushing over to throw her arms around Lucy's shoulders "Just think, you can write and I'll edit and we'd have so much fun and~"

"Le—v-y-chan" Lucy interrupted and Levy paused in her ramblings "N-no more sugar f'r you, 'kay?"

"Ah, okay Lu-chan!" Levy smiled brightly, a _very_ happy drunk.

"I think you're all missing someone" Mirajane put in and everyone focused on (or at least turned to face) her "Happy."

Wendy was the first to break into giggles, breaking the stunned silence which followed _that_ suggestion. Soon enough everyone followed.

"Not that Happy isn't 'mazing" Lucy managed after several deep breaths "but I l-ike my lovers… taller." She giggled, waving her hand somewhere over her head.

"Ah, but you'd be so cute together!" Mira persisted. Juvia nodded in agreement. Infact, so long as she wasn't paired with Gray, Juvia would cheer Lucy on with any romantic endeavour, even Happy.

"Chocolate please" Bisca called, unable to help herself as she waited for a new coat of nail polish to dry. Levy disentangled herself from Lucy long enough to crawl over and help the gunslinger. "-cheers hun. Now Lucy, it's one thing being in love with a fella, 'nother thing entirely to do summat about it" she managed round a caramel crème. "Tell us who your man is, and we'll come up with a plan."

"I 'ave a plan" Lucy insisted and indicated her glass "I'm going to get really, really, reallyreallyreallyreally drunk and hope i's all taken care of in the morning."

"Well you're halfway there already" Cana murmured at the same time as Levy said "I _like_ this plan" and proceeded to pour another round of drinks.

Mirajane pouted "But you still haven't told us who! Except that it's not Happy."

"You're not really one to be talking about plans now are you, Bisca?" Erza asked, cutting across Mira completely "Have you confessed yet?" Bisca blushed and looked away disgruntled.

"Who is it you like, Bisca?" Wendy asked and the whole room looked at her in shock.

"I know you're new kid, but open your eyes from time-to-time huh?" Cana laughed. "Who's the only guy you _ever_ see Bisca with?"

"By that logic should we be pairing you off with the only guy we see _you_ with?" Bisca shot back, but instead of blushing and backing off as expected, Cana leaned forward with a smirk

"Sure, if it gets you two to stop dancing round each other."

"Listen you, I ain't dancin' and I woulda-"

"Ladies" Erza interrupted in a voice that brooked no opposition, she then pointed at Lucy and Levy who were both completely dead to world, drooling on each other's shoulders, and Juvia who was struggling not to join them in slumber-land. The unspoken commands were received loud and clear.

"Bedtime kiddo" Cana said, standing up and scooping Wendy onto one of the smaller piles of pillows, as Erza distributed blankets.

"But I'm not tired" Wendy lied as she was placed down.

"But I still don't know who!" Mira complained as Erza hovered over her with a blanket

"Whose love life were we talking about Mira?" Erza asked, apprising the half-glazed look in transforming expert's eyes.

"Happy's"

"I thought as much. Go to sleep Mira, even if Lucy had said, you wouldn't remember in the morning."

"Why would… L …ucy… say…" Mira forced out before succumbing herself to the effects of too much of a good thing. Erza suspected that Mirajane had put away more than Lucy and Levy did between them. The Demon wasn't usually so easily put off the scent of gossip.

With everyone else asleep, Erza, Bisca and Cana shared a glance. Cana was the first to sigh and give in.

"Best odds are on Loke, he actually shows an interest."

"Has to be Natsu" Erza disagreed "Those two always seem to wind up together. Even when we're out as a team and he's the first one of us she met, they've spent the longest together."

"I've seen Gray give her more than a few o' _those_ looks though, an' we sure see enough of _him_ to be getting on with." Bisca voiced her own opinion.

"Please, every man in the guild has given her at least one of _those_ looks, half of the women have too. And I don't see either of them telling Juvia to back off. If even one of them was interested in the other they'd have snapped at her by now." Cana replied "My money's still on Loke."

"The immortal womaniser?" Erza asked "I know Lucy is a believer in the equality of her stellar spirits, but Loke tries to charm every pretty girl he meets and Lucy knows it. He'd have to be seriously trying to win her for Lucy to even consider him romantically -I doubt if he knows how. That's assuming his flirting is any more than Loke being Loke."

"So you think Natsu then, but is he even an option?" Bisca asked "It hasn't really been that long since… I doubt he's encouraging her at all" she finished with a sad look in Mira's direction. All three sighed and looked down. In danger of slipping into melancholy, Cana shifted breaking the threatening gloom with a grin.

"Well, there's a _chance_ we could all be wrong. Maybe it really is Happy."


	51. One for the Road

**AN:** Okay, so those of you who alert+ ed me on chapters 49 and 50 took a good gamble. I am continuing. Right up to 100 but I still need **Prompts** or **Requests** from you lot. I've picked a few more off Gizmobunny's lists, but I'm still short 30 or so -so if there's something you want to see written, just ask. I had two separate requests for a sequel to "Pass me another" -so here it is, although I'm still not saying who Lucy fell in love with; that wasn't the point at all :P

* * *

51. One for the road

It was petty retaliation, but when they realised they had been deliberately left out of what (from their view) was an evening of alcoholic indulgence and scantily clad girls, they decided it was high time for a men-only night.

Or a lock in.

Elfman tended bar. He wasn't as pretty as his sister, but he could pull a pint as well as anyone. Makarov took prime position _on_ the bar, not at all interested in the conversation so long as the beer kept coming, his only contribution the occasional hiccup or giggle.

"Little birdie told me the fuss was because Lucy's gone and fallen in love. Won't say who though." Macao opened, leaning back on his elbows against the bar. At the mention of their teammate's name, Natsu and Gray broke off from whatever contest they'd been in –Macao had lost track.

"Eh! Lucy?" They asked simultaneously then glared at each other in suspicion. From his perch on Natsu's head, Happy sighed at the inevitability.

Wakaba spun round on his stool and blew out a long stream of smoke "Don't suppose I have a chance, eh? Oh well, a man can dream."

"I'll pass that on to your wife" Macao teased, Wakaba grimaced at the mention but let it drop.

"That all your little birdie told you?" Max asked "She's usually better informed"

"What makes you say that? Think you know who my birdie is?" Macao asked, defensively. Alzack laughed

"It's not a very wide pool, is it? Count the girls that were missing las' night. Top suspect? Cana. An' seeing as she'll run a book on anything if the odds'r right stands ta reason she knows more'n she lets on."

Macao shrugged "Didn't tell me if she does." He said, admitting his source "Then again, women've been running rings 'round me for years."

"Must've had a guess at who it is though" Gray chipped in, breaking eye contact with Natsu.

"Reckon you have a shot, Fullbuster?" Warren asked with a knowing smirk.

"Lucy's a friend of mine, I'm looking out for her" Gray replied, but grinned a moment after "Not that she isn't pretty cute." He admitted, but then the mind-reader probably knew that anyway.

Warren laughed and turned back to Macao "The man has a point, Cana must have let slip something."

"Only that she, Erza and Bisca couldn't agree who it is. Didn't give me their guesses before you ask." Macao added "I reckon it's gotta be Natsu or Gray though."

"Figures" Droy said, then hiccped "howcomes th' 'retty ones alwis falls fer guys lik dat?"

"You're way ahead o' the game my friend" Alzack said, raising an eyebrow at the amount of empty mugs on the table in front of him "Watch him will ya Je-" he began, before realising there were an equal number of mugs in front of Jet and the same bleak depression seemed to have settled on him.

"Always de 'roublm'k'rs" Jet agreed with Droy "Ne'er de 'ice guys. 'Ucy-ch'n we l'st yi awready? 'Evy-chan, 'Ucy-chan too." Jet and Droy burst into uncontrollable tears, the occasional "Levy" or "Lucy" making it through their sobs.

From the bar, Elfman shouted that MEN didn't cry like that, but they continued unceasingly until, to everyone's relief, Gajeel knocked them over the back of the head with a metallic knuckle and they both fell unconscious. "Pansies" the Iron Dragon Slayer snorted, picking up the half-pint Jet hadn't finished yet and downing it. He picked up Droy's mostly-full mug then stalked forward swinging a chair round to sit on it backwards. "I always figured the Bunny-girl was Salamander's, or I'd've put that smart mouth of hers to better use." he taunted, and all eyes turned to Natsu, but he didn't rise to the bait.

Infact he had been decidedly quiet for some time. He sat cross-legged on the floor with his arms folded and a slight frown on his face. Happy climbed over his head to wave a paw in his eyes "Natsu?"

"Thinking" He replied absently "Gimmie a minute here, I think I got something…"

"Well that's a first" Gray laughed, handing his own glass over for Elfman to fill again "What do you reckon, Elfman, me or Natsu?"

Elfman shook his head "Neither, I think Lucy would like someone Manly, like Erza."

Makalov collapsed back onto the bar with a blissful look on his face and Wakaba laughed "Oh that is so much better, I want that dream, forget her liking me!"

"She did say she thinks Erza is really pretty" Gray mused, overlooking the slight to his manliness.

"No, you're wrong" Happy protested "Lucy likes Loke." He insisted, folding his arms and glaring at the group as if daring them to defy him. Until Natsu scratched his head in thought and Happy tumbled off.

"Aw, not Lucy _too_." Max moaned "Loke's got enough fangirls as is, what makes you think Lucy likes him?"

"She asked him out" Happy answered, dusting himself down "then he came to save her even though she didn't call him, and she said she trusted him, even though they were fighting Bixlow's figure eyes and, she got really embarrassed when I told her they're a cute couple, and-"

"Alright we get the picture" Wakaba interrupted, seeing his Lucy/Erza dream go up in smoke. "When did she ask him out though? Loke would have been crowing about that loud enough for the whole of Fiore to hear."

"When we were at the hot-springs, she thanked him for returning her Keys and asked him to dinner."

"That hardly counts" Gray interjected "She bought you and Natsu lunch as thanks for breaking her out of a Charm when you first met, right? Lucy shows gratitude with food. Must be an upper-class thing."

Happy's posture deflated a little "I guess… but the trust and her not calling him!"

"I trust you, I trust all of my comrades" Gray said kindly "For whatever reason Lucy thought Loke needed to hear it out loud. As for the whole summons thing I have no idea how Stellar-contracts work, besides which, Loke's already an exception to those rules isn't he?"

"I guess… they still look cute together though" Happy sulked, kicking the floor.

Gajeel reached down and ruffled the fur on his head "Don't worry, little cat" he said then turned back to his beer. Natsu grumbled something unintelligible from his position and Macao smiled in self-depreciation

"I'm starting to think it isn't Natsu or Gray either, she's always shouting at Gray to get clothes on, and usually just shouting at Natsu for anything. Speaking of which, Gray… clothes."

Gray cursed and moved around gathering his clothes, while Warren carried the conversation "Don't some couples show affection through fighting?"

"Is that where I've been going wrong?" Macao laughed, thinking of Romeo's mother "Doesn't strike me as Lucy's style though. Don't get the impression she _likes_ picking up after these two."

"It was Natsu who rescued her from Phantom" Elfman pointed out "Both times, and he stopped her crying when she was blaming herself for the whole attack. Very manly" he approved.

"She ever gone on a mission without him?" Warren asked

"Not that I can think of" Gray answered thoughtfully. "First one she followed Natsu out after Macao… then there was that thing with the book, then lullaby… after that it was mostly the five of us." Happy nodded along in agreement.

"Jet and Droy have never done missions without Levy" Max pointed out.

"Ya can't measure people 'ginst _them_" Alzack responded "they ain't normal"

"Fair enough" Max conceded "You and Bisca _ever_ do separate missions?" Al blushed and wouldn't answer. "Thought so."

"Still, _Natsu_?" Macao asked "I mean… Lucy's a Princess and well… look" he said, indicating Natsu, who was still sitting on the floor in thought.

"At least he isn't destroying anything, but hey, opposites attract and all that right?" Wakaba asked "I like his chances better than Gray's -word of advice to ya too boy" he said, leaning round to meet Gray's eyes "One woman in your life at a time mate."

"Point taken" Gray acknowledged with a quick salute.

"Argh! I don't get it!" Natsu exploded, tearing at his hair then leaping to his feet "How does Lucy know? How does anyone tell when they're in love?"

Silence descended on the group for a long moment, then, collectively, all eyes turned to Alzack. "Aw hell" he murmured and let his head slump forward onto the bar, before straightening up. "Love is…" he trailed off and cast around for explanation. "Love is…" he tried again, and broke off again, taking a grateful swig from the glass Elfman pushed his way. "Love" he declared with sudden clarity "is completely inexplicable"

"Yup, that's about the size of it" Wakaba agreed, a wistful note to his voice.

"But" Natsu began, completely confused "then how –what…" he trailed off not entirely sure himself what he was asking. Macao smiled and handed him a glass

"If you ever figure it out kid, let us know will ya?"


	52. Omnipotence

52. Omnipotence

"Dragon" was such a small word for what it described. It didn't give much sense of the creature either, but then, humans were quick and flighty, their language changed almost as soon as their generations.

They had forgotten "Drakontos Derkesthai" and it's meanings. Igneel had not. Could not.

"Clear sighted", or "piercing gaze" it had been some time since Igneel had dealt with a human who could have told him the most appropriate translation. To the Dragons however, it meant something else entirely

Knowledge.

They knew all that had happened in the past, through simple virtue of being there. They knew all that was happening in the present, for they knew nature better than they knew themselves. Every sense was attuned to the whispering of the wind, the crashing of the waves, the rumblings of the earth, the crackling fire, the melting ice, the bending steel, the rumbling thunder... a butterfly did not take flight but they knew of it.

They knew what was coming, as they had seen it all before.

Their machinations set in place they removed themselves to observe. But Igneel was not happy. Ignorance, the humans said, was bliss. Igneel was far too aware for his own comfort.

Because for all their farsightedness, all their indomitable power, he was keenly aware of the flaw in their plan.

Their plans depended on humans. For all his trust, all the lessons, and the _knowledge_ that Natsu's flame burnt brighter than even his own, Igneel _did not know_ if the humans could weather the coming storm.

Dragons hoarded their knowledge and guarded it jealously. By the time they concluded that someone else might need it, it may be too late.


	53. Star Child

53. Star Child

In prefect honesty, Loke had rather expected an axe at his throat. What he received instead was a most unnerving stare.

At least it unnerved him; behind the glasses, it was difficult to discern Cancer's expression. However the scissors twirling expertly from finger to finger were more threatening than Taurus' axe had ever been.

""I love Lucy"-ebi?" he asked, the scissors not pausing once.

Loke froze and tried to work out _why_ he was faced with the Scissors-of-doom, instead of the Axe-of-supreme-perverseness. If Taurus, or possibly even Virgo for that matter, had been pulling the protective act he'd have understood why. In the first, Lucy was female and attractive, in the second, their master and_ worthy _of absolute loyalty. Alright, so Cancer was known to be protective (it came with the shell) but-

"Ah" it clicked "Lucy's one of yours"

Cancer nodded briefly, his eyes not leaving Loke's face "July first-ebi"

Loke sighed. When he thought about it, Lucy was a perfect match for the "typical" Cancer personality, from her emotional nature, changeable moods, overactive imagination right down to her love of literature.

Which was a pity, Loke had always gotten on better with the fire signs; Aries, Sagittarius and his own. This conversation would have been much easier with Sagittarius and Aries wouldn't even have mentioned it.

"Look, if Lucy doesn't have a problem with-" he began but cut himself off with a gasp. In a flash he couldn't follow Cancer had crossed over to him, the scissors held dangerously close to his hair.

"Tread carefully Leo-ebi." He said then vanished off into the starlight. Loke let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair to make sure it was still all there.

Cancer shouldn't have been able to pull that on him, he thought. He was the more powerful. But then, a Spirit's power came from the bond with their owner. Lucy loved her spirits, but, more importantly, her Spirits loved Lucy.

And they would each give their all for her.


	54. Points of View

54. Points of View

When he saw the paper, pinned to Lucy's door, Natsu burst into flames of indignation. Lucy, who had expected it (Natsu realised she was actually far more pessimistic than she let on) simply pushed the door open and started organising her books.

"What the hell are you doing Lucy! This is totally unfair! Just tell me where I can find the guy!"

"It's completely fair Natsu." Lucy responded unemotionally "It's a business, he's been losing money, so I have to go."

Natsu tore the eviction order from the door and burnt it to ash in his hands "Screw that! You've been in hospital! There should be exceptions! Can't you just pay it back later?"

"I've been in hospital Natsu" she repeated back at him "Not working, I don't have the money for the last three month's rent. I don't have money for the next three month's rent." She sighed, and moved a stack of books into a box "I wonder if Levy will let me crash with her." She turned to ask Natsu if he would help her move but he was gone.

* * *

Erza was the only girl in Fairy Hills not to offer Lucy a place to stay. Juvia wondered, briefly, if that had anything to do with guilt. Was Erza avoiding her out of embarrassment because it hadn't occurred to her, that despite being on "the strongest team" Lucy was _not_ strong? But then, Erza had visited her frequently in hospital, and although she didn't offer _Lucy _a place to stay she offered to store her stuff.

Juvia reasoned that the old Matron probably hadn't approved of room sharing.

Erza _was_ always one for rules.

* * *

'Lucille Hart' had once written a series of articles on the difficulties that faced guildless mages as they tried to earn the money for food and shelter. Levy had adored the writing, and devoured anything she had written with enthusiasm. There hadn't been any articles by Lucille for a while now though. Not since Lucy Heartfilia had joined Fairy Tail at least. Levy had a feeling though, that Lucille would soon be publishing an introspective on the difficulties holder-type mages had when separated from their items and teammates –and the wisdom of saving money.

She made sure Lucy was comfortable meanwhile. Her leg –still in a cast- was propped up by pillows and a writing tablet, reams of paper, refills of ink, blotting paper and copious amounts of tea were within reach.

* * *

Elfman wondered if the habit Gray was making of slamming doors was manly or not. On the one hand, it made quite an impression, on the other it kept startling Mirajane. The last thing a Man ever did was scare a girl.

He said nothing, recalling a time of frustration and anger at himself when he had slammed a lot of doors. Words hadn't helped then either.

* * *

Makarov breathed a silent sigh of relief when Natsu had come blazing through the door, dragging Erza with one hand, stopping briefly to grab hold of Gray then demanding Mira give him them the three highest paying missions on the board.

For all his destructive tendencies and moments of pure idiocy, Natsu had the fortunate talent of turning two wrongs into a right.

* * *

Once Lucy's leg had been cut out of her cast and the doctor gave her the all-clear she went back to pick up the last of her things. The Landlord had told her the new lease took over tomorrow so anything she had left would be destroyed.

She hadn't expected to find Natsu, Gray and Erza at the kitchen table. Everything she had stored with Erza was unpacked and put back where she had kept it.

"You guys" she moaned, addressing it mostly at Natsu (he was the most probable instigator) "I can't do this" the tears were threatening behind her eyes, because she _loved_ this place and they knew it "I have to get my stuff out of here, the new lease starts tomorrow, there's nothing I can do about it."

"Yep" Natsu agreed with a grin "So, Levy will be brining the rest of your stuff over later."

"Natsu!" she yelled "That's not the point-"

"We've taken over the lease, Lucy" Gray explained, taking pity on her.

"You'll be sub-leasing from us" Erza added, a small smile on her face.

Lucy gawked at them, eyes wide and Natsu fought to keep his laughter in at the expression "Rule number one" he declared "You're not allowed to throw us out anymore. Rule number two, no crying." Lucy, who had been crying, wiped the tears from her face and gulped down some racking breaths. She opened her mouth but the words simply wouldn't come out. Gray and Erza shared a look and Natsu grinned widely

"Welcome Home"


	55. The Hard Way

55. The Hard Way

The next addition to Fairy Tail was always going to be an issue. Makarov had rather expected Mirajane would be the one to take exception. He saw now, that she didn't wear red and pink from grief that could be shocked out of; she wore red and pink like Erza wore silver and steel. Sooner rather than later, he would have to broach the topic of whether she _wouldn't_ use magic or _couldn't_. Meanwhile though, she had taken over the running of the guild hall, and as long as Mystogan, Laxus and Erza were able to pick up the slack on S-class missions, Fairy Tail would not suffer.

The more pressing concern was Natsu. It didn't help matters that the new member was a girl about his age, who came with two protective teammates and whose first initial was "L". Natsu, who would risk his life for any member of Fairy Tail, spurned Levy.

It wasn't obvious, but Makarov was watching, and so he saw. When Levy entered a room, Natsu finished whatever he was doing and blended in to the hubbub of the guild. Gray had won three fights by default in the past week, when previously all fights were a draw or interrupted (usually by Erza). Makarov had also been watching Levy as she systematically introduced herself to everyone in the guild. She knew. Or so the Master thought.

At the very least he hoped she knew, and that she knew what she was doing. Approaching Gray and Natsu in the middle of a scuffle was something even he left to Erza to handle. He watched with mild concern as Levy marched up to the boys, drawing everyone's attention and giving Natsu no time to escape. She tapped Gray on the shoulder, asking him to step aside.

"We haven't been introduced yet" she said, sticking out a hand "I'm Levy, Levy McGarden." Natsu's gaze dropped from her eyes to the offered hand and back again. Levy's gaze was fixed and determined, her hand didn't waver for a second as the silence drew on.

Finally, Natsu lifted his hand and shook hers "Natsu Dragneel" Levy smiled and turned so she, Gray and Natsu formed their own little triangle.

"So why were you fighting?"

Makarov smirked and tuned the conversation out. He made a mental note that Levy was adapt at handling Dragon Slayers and pretended not to see Mira wiping the tears from her eyes as he asked for a refill.


	56. The Easy Way

56. The Easy Way

The stranger in his guild was the first thing Makarov noticed. The noise the rest of the guild was making registered somewhere in his subconscious –but to be honest he'd have been disturbed if the guild was quiet. He stood invisibly on the edge of the pandemonium and watched her eyes widen in shock, awe, embarrassment, fear and disbelief. He looked lower and decided he liked her very much.

Finally, his conscience grumbled and he waded in to bring some order –or at the very least a sense of pride- back to his children. Lucy was overjoyed to join and he discovered that whatever the reason she didn't give a surname didn't matter –she was one of his now.

He was interested in why their resident Dragon Slayer allowed her to follow him around. With the exception of Happy, Natsu hadn't let anyone get so close to him in a long time. Had she saved his life? Happy's? Was she a strong opponent he wanted to spar against? Numerous theories chased round his head, until he heard Happy gurgling cheerfully about the best fish in Fiore (from Hargeon) and how he'd eaten "Thiiiiiiiiiiiiis much" (at Lucy's expense). Then it all made sense.

She'd bought them lunch.

And damn but he wished he'd thought of that _years_ ago.


	57. Blurry

57. Blurry

Bigger was not always better.

You worked this out the hard way –beyond a certain scale, your magic lost focus, became blurry and unstable… faded out of existence far too quickly.

You knew Picto-magic was one of the freest forms of creation magic. You knew it also had limits.

You just hadn't expected to hit them so soon.

Your art was –none could deny it- life-like, beautiful and inspired. However it was restricted to paper and canvas. Your magic was free, living and not just imitation, but had to be drawn from you.

Drawn _on_ you.

You always had been skinny.

You approach the Master, cap in hand, and tell him of your wish to be _très grand_. He frowns, and warns you that nothing made of magic lasts forever. Even his spells will fade in time.

You understand, and vow that when it does you will accept your own form back with _tranquilité _and grace. Until then, you declare, you shall be more useful in gratitude to the Master.

Bigger was not always better.

But you would make it useful.


	58. Socks

58. Socks

Everyone had picked up on Lucy's black mood that day. From the moment she walked in the door, even Natsu had noticed the annoyed aura hanging around her. He and Gray shared a look and silently agreed they'd let Erza deal with telling her about their newest mission.

Lucy knew she was being unreasonable. Unfortunately instead of snapping her out of it the knowledge made her mood darker.

There was no reason anyone else should know. As far as the casual observer was concerned, she looked great. Her skin was fresh and clear, she had toned up well since joining Fairy Tail, her outfit was well coordinated –the ribbon in her hair matched her skirt, her top was complimented by the accents on her boots and a stylish Hearts Kreuz belt and wristbands brought the whole ensemble together.

However, common sense and statistical probability turned blind eyes where Fairy Tail was concerned. She _knew_ that whatever she did today, _something_ would happen to expose her. She'd get caught in a flood or burnt, she'd get stuck somewhere or their mission today would involve a shoe thief (-the greatest statistical improbability and therefore most likely to happen).

And then everybody would know.

She was wearing mismatched socks…

Some days it simply wasn't worth getting out of bed.


	59. Unseasonal Weather

59. Unseasonal Weather

"Back already?" a harsh voice called out. Juvia stopped and tilted her umbrella back a bit to locate the source, then spotted Gajeel squatting on an overhang monitoring her approach. His hair was plastered to his face by the rain that attended her and the clouds gathered in the sky above cast him into shadow, but his eyes gleamed like rubies in the half-light.

"Is Gajeel-sama surprised?" She asked, moving her umbrella back and continuing on her path "Juvia is far superior to any mercenaries."

"So I heard" his voice said from directly in front of her and she looked up to find him towering over her, barring the path "Master reckons you might be S class material."

_Drip_

"S-class?" She questioned and wondered if the consideration had more to do with her element than her talent. She was well aware of the _other_ S-class mages Phantom had.

"Sure" Gajeel responded, with a grin that showed too many teeth. Like a wolf Juvia thought –or a dragon. "If you can pass the test."

_Drip_

"Juvia understands why Gajeel-sama is here now" she replied with a grim smile "Tell Juvia the pass condition."

"You just have to walk into the guild. You fail if I have to drag you back."

_Drop_

A sudden flash of movement and the umbrella landed somewhere off to the side. Gajeel let out a grating laugh as his Iron Pillar dug into the earth where Juvia had been standing. He glanced over his shoulder to where she was now.

"You've got an advantage in this bloody rain. Can't get a scent. But then I like a challenge."

"Juvia has many advantages." she countered and took her eyes off him to calmly walk round and collect her umbrella "Juvia is the rain-woman. Gajeel-sama cannot stop Juvia."

"Say that again Wench" he growled and swung a pillar at her as she stooped to pick up her umbrella. The iron simply passed through her, revealing her watery nature. She lifted the umbrella and turned her back on him, heading towards the guild.

"Gajeel-sama is an excellent mage, but iron and physical attacks do not work on Juvia."

Not one to give up easily, Gajeel dismissed the iron pillar and started taking a deep breath only to find himself choking as water filled his lungs, courtesy of Juvia's water-lock. Juvia held the lock for a moment before releasing it and Gajeel sunk to his knees, coughing up fluid.

"The vibrations from Gajeel-sama's roar may hurt Juvia, but Juvia can counter before Gajeel-sama releases it. Gajeel-sama cannot stop Juvia." She turned and walked on again and Gajeel let her go, giving himself leave to dry out in the summer sun that emerged once she had passed.

Neither "Monsieur" Sol nor the brat Totomaru had passed Gajeel. That Rain-woman didn't give him the creeps like Aria did, but she was certainly creepy in her own way.

She was strong though. Gajeel had no problems with _her_ joining the S-class rank.


	60. Knight in Tarnished Armour

60. Knight in Tarnished Armour

Loke kept his greatest betrayal hidden. No-one knew, save him, that he committed a sin worse than the one that had him barred from the Stellar Plane for three years.

If

The word haunted him. At the times when the sun was opposed and his stars were dim, he even submitted to it.

If Lucy turned to the dark side, would he stand by her?

The betrayal was not the question, nor even the answer, but the supposition in the first place. To even imagine Lucy (who withstood Nirvana without shaking) opposing the forces of light was sacrilege.

And yet, he had a thought of blood-red nails tilting his chin while equally dark lips whispered some bittersweet command. Chocolate eyes, shadowed by a veil of golden hair, burned into his and the sound of a whip echoed through his head.

If?

He never acknowledged his answer, even to himself, but it didn't stop the asking.


	61. Photographic Evidence

61. Photographic Evidence

Lucy once asked Wendy why she was having so many pictures of everyone taken. Over the few weeks since they had returned to Magnolia from Edoras the child had managed to fill several albums and had even put a large amount of her quest rewards into commissioning Reedus for portraits.

Wendy didn't answer; instead snapping a shot of Lucy's curious face diverted the older girl into worrying about her appearance. Wendy was glad, because explanation was impossible.

She needed _proof_.

Lucy had had Horologium and then Mystogan with her. Had known the situation and that it was possible to save everyone.

But for several heart stopping moments, Wendy had lost everyone that cared about her.

Again.

She needed a record, that these people existed and loved her.

It wasn't a matter that she could take on faith. Not anymore.


	62. GodGiven Talent

**AN:** Still looking for prompts if you please folks! Send me your words or requests and I'll get on them, a few of you have already seen yours used =D

* * *

62. God-given Talent

Mirajane was, quite simply, the best bartender in Magnolia.

The fact only became clear when Fairy Tail expanded and opened up to a wider range of the non-magic community. Long standing regulars abandoned their posts to be tended on by Fairy Tail's demon.

The secret was in knowing what the customer wanted before they did. The famous "bartenders ear"? Advice? Someone to flirt with? Cheering up? Calming down? A catchy song? Gin on the rocks?

Mira knew, every time. The only exception was Loke's old girlfriends, she never knew how to handle them, but then she'd never seen the appeal either.

Being the best bartender in Magnolia, she also got the best tips in Magnolia. Master didn't know it, but she wasn't usually much off her previous S-class payments when it came to the end of the month. If she messed up on her advice once or twice, she could afford to by the patron a drink.

And they always came back.


	63. Riot

63. Riot

Bisca _hated_ playing back-up. Which is why it was such a pity she was so damn _good at it_.

It was something about watching her partner down the scope of her rifle and knowing that if she messed up she would never see his stupid, annoying, handsome smile again. It probably also had something to do with the fact that he _trusted_ her to do it.

Stupid, annoying, handsome **moron** that he was.

Just once she'd like to put him _out of harms way_ watching _her_ do the dangerous part and see how he liked it. However the formula worked and as the saying goes; _if it ain't broke, don't fix it_.

Her sharp eyes caught something off on the ground below and she scanned back over again to pick out what it was. A shadow where there shouldn't be. Heading for Al from behind.

She adjusted her scope. Located her target. Drew a breath. Pulled the trigger.

The ground below erupted into a riot of colour as Alzack let loose with all guns blazing. Bisca pulled three more snipes before switching her rifle out for the heavy weaponry she carried with her.

Al smiled that stupid, annoying, _God-damn handsome_ smile as she arrived beside him, joining the fray with a "Yee-ha!". He knew Bisca hated playing back-up.

But trigger happy; that she could do.


	64. Wet Dog Smell

64. Wet Dog Smell

"Hey Cosplay-Queen! You 'n' Loke-"

"**NO!**"

Bixlow grinned and swung his stool back round to face the bar. He signalled for another drink then tilted his head slightly to locate the source of the dark chuckle floating by. The stool beside him was occupied by a figure dressed entirely in black. One didn't need to think too hard to guess who it was, but Bixlow had done his research on everyone who had joined Fairy Tail while he was away. Forewarned was forearmed.

"Something amusing?"

""Cosplay-Queen" –I'll have to remember that one." The figure replied "Fits a damn sight better than "Bunny girl"."

"Glad to be of service, Gajeel-kun" He replied, and was met with a frosty glare.

"Watch it." Gajeel warned, Bixlow's grin widened exponentially, showing a flash of tongue.

"I call it as I see it, you're new here, makes me the senior one. Or would you rather I follow the trend and call you 'punk'?" he asked

"Would you rather I call you 'gimp'?" was Gajeel's sharp reply. Bixlow threw his head back in laughter, swinging round on the stool several times, before stopping to face Gajeel directly.

"Don't think my babies would like that. Alright then, you call me Bixlow and I'll call you Gajeel." The Dragon Slayer nodded and Bixlow signalled for another drink, sliding it over to Gajeel when it arrived. He raised his own in a toast and tossed it back.

* * *

"How the heck do you do that?" Bixlow complained, watching Gajeel hit a triple twenty _again_. Gajeel grinned a feral grin and collected his darts.

"Practice. You just need to spend less time playing with dolls"

"Hey now, no insulting my babies."

* * *

"That had to hurt."

"This?" Bixlow laughed, wagging his tongue around "Not as much as all _those_" he replied indicating Gajeel's piercings.

* * *

"**BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAAAAAA-**"

"Shaddup."

"**HAHAHAHAHAHA-**"

"It's not funny damnit!"

"**HAHAHAHAHAAAAA**… hehehe… but -hehehe… but _cats?_ Heeheeeheee~!"

* * *

"Yurr d' best punk inna _world_"

"You'd m'st 'diculus gimp ev'r"

"Yuud make Nnnnnnn, hehe, AN fanabalistc, dolly."

"Nooooo, nope, nop, no"

"Suuuure, jus' lookin mi eyes~"

* * *

Gajeel woke with a pounding headache and a fuzzy feeling in the back of his mouth. The previous evening came back to him in drips and drabs, but nothing that accounted for what –or whom- was pinning his legs to the floor or why the wet-dog smell that overpowered his sensitive nose seemed to be coming from himself.

A stifled giggle brought his attention upwards, only to find the majority of Fairy Tail looking down at him with various degrees of amusement written on their faces.

Beside him, Bixlow groaned his way into consciousness "Asprin, _please._"

Mirajane, coughed down another giggle and took pity on them "You too, Gajeel?"

Gajeel shook his head, but found that only made his head swim. "Jus' kill me now" he rasped.


	65. Fledgling

65. Fledgling

Crux, of the Southern Cross, was worried.

He understood his position in the scheme of things perfectly. Mages only called him when they needed information, and those calls were infrequent enough that he didn't think he would face exhaustion by loosening up his contract enough that he was almost always available.

With a nickname like "Curmudgeon" one didn't worry too much about people _wanting_ to see you.

Except apparently, one Lucy Heartfilia. She had called him almost every night for a fortnight now and had used two out of three visits from Lyra for the month on the nights she hadn't.

She didn't seem to want any specific information either. Certainly she asked questions about other spirit mages, past and present, but mostly she seemed to want stories.

Crux tilted to the side in an attempt to discover what had changed in Lucy to cause this need for… company? Because it wasn't enlightenment she was after. He had almost given up the search when he came across one Layla Heartfilia's date of birth… and date of death.

He searched again for what Lyra had been singing of recently and frowned in concern. Abandonment was surely too heavy a feeling for such a small child. Was there nobody for her to turn to?

Yes, he realised with a jolt; _him, them._

Oh dear. That wouldn't do. Lucy was a human, she needed other humans. But if he just told her that she would take it as a rejection, wouldn't she?

Lucy needed to leave the place she was and find humans who would take care of her. Help her expand her magic, cheer her up… There was really only one place he could think of.

That night, Lucy heard a Fairy Tail for the first time.


	66. Sacrifice

**AN:** For Nika-nee, who didn't so much request it as inspire it. I've still got plenty of space for prompts and requests before I hit one hundred folk, send them in (or sit back and see what I come up with on my own, but it'll take longer D= )

* * *

66. Sacrifice

Sometimes Natsu thought he was the only person he knew who had any sense. None of the others seemed to understand the important things.

If it wasn't Gray deciding to use Iced Shell, then Lucy was thinking of returning to a home she hated or bartering her life for a spirit's emancipation. Or, Erza, the biggest idiot of them all, was throwing herself in front of Jupiter or Etherion. Loke had wanted to be punished for eternity and Jellal had chosen prison over Fairy Tail. Nobody understood.

_Life_ and the people you loved were very important things, everyone knew that. But he was the only one who seemed to understand; _living _**with** the people you loved was _the_ most important.

Natsu had already had too much _taken_ from him, he refused to _sacrifice_ anymore.


	67. Looking Back

67. Looking back

July 1st: Happy Birthday, Me! Hitched a ride with a wagon, made good progress, I ought to reach Hargeon tomorrow. Stars are bright tonight and I have enough jewel from the last job to tide me over for a month or so. Maybe some shopping tomorrow if I go for discount~! A birthday treat.

July 2nd : Unbelievably messed up day. Tricked then saved, tricked then saved, and all by the same two people. Had to summon Aquarius as well, still no improvement there. In the end though, I really was saved –I'm on the way to Fairy Tail!

July 3rd: Fairy Tail is… every bit as ludicrous as the rumours say! I love it!

July 4th: Sunny, then a blizzard then sunny once again. Fairy Tail might be one crazy messed up guild… But it's fun and warm-hearted –and kind. I might just be starting out as a mage, but I love this guild!

July 5th: I found a place to live! It's fantastic, Mirajane helped me move all my stuff in, not that I have much –she's just as beautiful in person as she is in Sorcerer!

July 6th: Made a promise I shouldn't have. But I think it turned out okay, I can trust Natsu to look out for me as a teammate. I learnt a lot about my hero as well, maybe the best stories aren't the ones you publish, but the ones you write for other people.

July 7th: Natsu in a strange mood all day. I don't think it was just running into Gray, who he fights with all the time, or Happy's 'shortcut', which wasn't really. We ran into some strange people and they said 'Lullaby' …I know I've heard that somewhere before…

July 8th: Today I saw Erza for the first time. She's pretty, cool and a little scary. She asked Natsu and Gray to go with her for something and Mirajane said I should go along too, she thinks the 'ultimate team' will kill each other if I don't but… what can _I_ do!

July 9th: Swords, gales, trains, tunnels, fire and ice. Lullaby. We were trapped by a wall of wind, and I got a golden key- Virgo, Natsu defeated the leader of Eisenwald, I saw Erza's magic first hand and then Natsu, Gray and Erza defeated the monster "Lullaby". …although they did pretty much destroy Clover in the process. I really didn't do anything though; I wonder why Mira sent me?

July 10th: We're lost. And we have no food –except these strange mushrooms. The Master and Erza are here so I'm not too worried, but… I still haven't made any money for the rent and I don't know how long it'll take before we get back! I haven't been here long but I'm absolutely positive that Fairy Tail really is the craziest guild in Fiore!


	68. Chicken Scratch

68. Chicken Scratch

"Coffee, lots of sugar, um, where do I put it?" Levy looked up from the microscopic print she was reading and shifted a stack of papers to the floor behind her, clearing a space on the table she'd commandeered.

"Thanks Lu-chan" she murmured despondently as Lucy set the mug down.

"Hey, hey Levy, it can't be that bad? Cheer up!" Lucy replied in response to her friend's downbeat tone.

"It's been three days and I'm not getting anywhere!" Levy complained, taking her magical glasses off and throwing them on the heaps of paper before her "It's not olden Fiore runes, Gamalty glyphs, Elm glyphs, Hakoden script, it's no language, codex or format I recognise, the closest it comes to is ancient Galuna writing but it doesn't fit and I only have two more days before the client asks someone else!"

Lucy watched Levy get her breath back after that rant for a few moments before venturing a quiet "Better?"

"Yes" Levy admitted "Thanks Lu-chan" she repeated again and took a sip from the mug "I just feel like I'm going in circles."

Lucy wrapped her arms around her friend and gave a hug in support "Maybe ask someone else to take a look? Fresh eyes might help. I have to get going or Erza'll be mad I'm late" she shivered and Levy squeezed her hand in sympathy "but maybe the Master will know? Worth asking."

"Mm," Levy acknowledged "good luck with the mission."

"Back at cha" Lucy replied with a wink, grabbing the handle of her luggage and heading out to join her team. "And get some sleep!" she called back as she passed the door.

Levy put her glasses back on and returned to the print. There had been one or two passages in there that had caught her eye, about reverse-printing of Fiore runes and how that had started a language in itself… but reading further she realised that that was the root of Elm glyphs and she'd already ruled out that possibility.

Levy was sure she could translate the papers the client had asked her to. She just needed to work out what language they were in first. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, getting worked up wasn't going to help after all. Maybe it was time to ask for help. Lifting the sheet she was working on she set off in search of the Master.

He wasn't difficult to find, sitting in prime position on the bar where anyone could locate him, but Levy hesitated. Standing just off to the side was Gajeel. Both their faces were lowered and set with grim expressions. They weren't obviously talking, and Gajeel was far enough away that, if not for their matching expressions, she wouldn't have grouped them at all. Still she paused, but when neither moved she pushed her apprehension aside and walked forward.

"Master?" she asked cautiously. He drew a breath and sighed as if closing one subject, before he looked up and smiled his usual smile at her.

"Yes, Levy-chan?"

"I was wondering if you would look at this for me." She began laying the parchment sheet on the bar "I can't figure out what the language is –have you seen it before?"

Makarov hummed in thought before answering with a bright smile and cheerful voice "Not a clue!"

Levy slumped forward with a sigh "I knew it" Makarov grinned and patted her head.

"How about you Gajeel? You've travelled a lot." He asked, holding the sheet up. Gajeel just shrugged.

"Looks like chicken scratch to me."

Levy stiffened perceptibly and slowly looked up at Gajeel "S-say that again?" she asked. Gajeel looked at her askance but complied

"I said it looks like chicken scratch."

Levy took the paper in both hands and looked at it for a long moment before bursting into tears. Makarov stared at her in shock and Gajeel took an automatic step away, raising both hands as if to say "I didn't touch her, you can't pin this on me" to Jet and Droy who were already on their way over.

"He's right!" Levy managed, and they realised that while she _was _crying she was also laughing "it's not runes or glyphs" she hiccupped and, very suddenly sat down on the floor "it's just really bad handwriting!" She looked up at Makarov and Gajeel from the floor with a manic grin and tears in her eyes before collapsing back in a dead faint.

"Levy-chan!" Jet and Droy cried in unison, rushing forward.

"How long has she been working on this?" Makarov asked, standing on the bar to look over the edge

"About three days" Droy replied, as Jet scooped her up into his arms. Makarov nodded

"And how much sleep has she had?"

Jet and Droy shared a look "Maybe… four hours?"

"I see" Makarov stated, folding his arms, eyes closed in thought. Suddenly he exploded with rage "WELL WHY ARE YOU STANDING THERE? GET HER TO THE DORMS AND FINISH THIS QUEST! Honestly…" he added to himself as they scarpered off.

"And this is your 'backbone' team?" Gajeel asked aloud. Makarov levelled a glare at him

"Your point?"

Gajeel raised his hands again "Nothin'. Just anyone able to keep those two in check to get anything done has gotta be something special."

"Good answer" Makarov allowed him to slide and Gajeel quickly took himself elsewhere.

He was right though, that girl really was something else.


	69. Romeo and Juliet

69. Romeo and Juliet

Cana Alberona had not spent all year shoring up her metaphorical house of cards just to let an idiot like Macao Conbolt send it crashing down.

It was a perfect evening. Balmy with enough of a breeze to keep from being stifling. The horizon was aglow in shades of fuchsia and orange, while directly above the first stars began to shine against an inky backdrop. A beautiful night to sit out with a drink and watch the sky.

Instead, there she was babysitting. Babysitting! Surely Romeo was big enough to handle himself by now?

And where was Macao? Out on a date. A date!

Cana was not jealous. She wasn't bitter. Not at all. Not one little bit. She was perfectly calm and content –happy even. Positively cheerful.

"Cana-nee?"

As a matter of fact she was so busy being cheerful she hadn't heard Romeo approach and let out a squeal of surprise that would have sounded much less out-of-place coming from Lucy than herself. "Jeeze kid" she managed after sucking in a breath "don't sneak up like that. I'll let you off this time because you're cute 'n' all, but do it again and there'll be no more hot chocolate, capeesh?"

"Mm" he acknowledged sliding onto the sofa next to her "Cana-nee, can I ask some advice?"

"Sure" she responded, and folded her legs up under her, turning so her back rested against the armrest and she was facing Romeo directly "what's up?"

"Well…" he began, hesitating and kicking his feet under Cana's inquisitive gaze "there's this girl…"

"Aaah~" Cana sighed, dramatically letting her arm flop to the floor and her head hang back over the armrest for a moment, other arm across her eyes as if in a faint, before she straightened up again "I'm a bad choice for love advice Romeo, have you asked your dad?"

"Yeah, but his advice sucked." Romeo said.

"And yet of the three of us, _he's_ the one out tonight." Cana pointed out "What was his advice, maybe it just needs tweaking?"

"Well, he said, in his case, the girl has to like me and I have to be okay with her –so that's making sure my friends don't hate her right?" He asked and Cana nodded "Then he said to make her really jealous by paying more attention to other girls. That's okay I guess but she doesn't even know I exist." He finished, eyes trailing down to where his feet were still scuffing along the floor.

"Then introduce yourself." Cana said, opting for the easy way out "You must have something in common, or you wouldn't know her at all right? Then you can put the rest of the plan in action."

Romeo heaved a sigh and stood up, starting to shuffle off "I figured. Just talk to her… can't be that bad, right?" he mumbled, mostly to himself.

"Oi, Romeo" Cana called on sudden impulse as he was leaving the room "This girl tonight, you like her?"

Romeo stuck out his tongue and made a gagging gesture "Hate her, she's one of the girls he's paying more attention to, y'know, to make the girl he does like jealous."

"I see, well sweet dreams kid." Romeo bid her goodnight and started back to his room. Once she heard his door close, Cana stretched her legs out along the sofa and grinned.

Her house of cards was safe.


	70. Birthnight

**AN:** For Usami, who asked for a Loke/Lucy centred on Lucy's birthday.

70. Birthnight

In retrospect, telling Loke about Hibiki's offer of "A perfect night" the next time she was near Blue Pegasus may not have been such a great idea. At the time it had seemed perfectly reasonable. Loke had spent quite a while hanging around Blue Pegasus, so Lucy could pass on what she'd heard and let him know his old associates were doing well. Hibiki's offer had just sort of slipped out.

(She did have the sense not to tell him about the incident with Hibiki and Gemini's clone of herself. Loke would be unbearable if he knew…)

He hadn't made much of a deal about it. Just raised his eyebrow and stooped to whisper sweet-nothings in her ear, and backed off when she pushed him away. She should have known he hadn't let it go. She should have known he'd take it as a challenge.

* * *

She had woken to the touch of lips on her eyelids, forehead and a whisper of "Happy Birthday" unsure what the time was but _knowing_ she hadn't had the eight-hours she needed, Lucy forced herself to sit up, holding him at arms length and trying to locate a clock.

"Loke?" she asked still in a sleepy daze as she tried to decipher what the clock on the wall was telling her through the dim light. It's pale face was only vaguely reflecting the moonlight that filtered through her window but she could just make out the position of the hands "Midnight, what-" she began but was cut off by a finger on her lips.

"Were you expecting someone else, Princess?" he asked with a grin "Today is your birthday; I'm taking you to celebrate."

"It's _midnight_ Loke" she hissed when he removed his finger "you could have waited until morning like any sensible-"she was cut off as his finger returned, accompanied this time by some fellow-digits and she glared at him over them.

"Love is not sensible, Princess. I couldn't wait a single second to share this with you." he insisted "Come" he added and taking her hand in one of his larger ones, pulled her to her feet.

The moment her feet touched the floor Lucy was aware that _she wasn't in her room anymore_. The familiar setting had faded away and she found herself looking at… she couldn't even describe it. It was something like oblivion and eternity, all at the same time. Lights in colours she couldn't name danced before her eyes, her feet stood on _nothingness_ like it was marble. It was beautiful and hollow and changing and ending and shining and _being_. She forgot to breathe, and then found she didn't need to.

"The spirit world" Loke explained, drawing her close to him, wrapping an arm around her waist while the other kept a firm grip on her hand, holding it up against his heart.

"Th-that's impossible" she spluttered and felt rather than heard Loke chuckle, like a great rumbling purr passing through her.

"Usually." He admitted "but for today I… bent some rules" he smiled and Lucy found her heart racing "just for you."

Lucy couldn't find the words to reply so with a charismatic wink Loke spun her into a waltz, keeping her close but letting her view the shifting sights around them. Her wide eyes drank everything in, looking around in wonderment. He smiled in satisfaction, but the expression faded as soon as it had come "Ah, I forgot…" and bending down he placed a kiss at the end of her jaw right below her ear.

She was about to tell him off for being too familiar with her, in her most imperious Lady-of-the-manor voice when suddenly she was able to hear the music they were dancing to. The song of the stars.

There was more than a touch of magic in Loke's kiss.

* * *

When he brought her back through the golden gate, the sun was just rising. Lucy knew it was the same day –her birthday- and she had the rest of the day to get through, but in her mind it could have been years. She felt heavy, and had to lean on Loke while her body acclimatised to being back in her own world. He didn't complain, instead he lifted her hand to his lips "Happy birthday, Lucy"

"Thank you" she managed, when she worked out how to speak again "Thank you so much Loke, I… I don't think anything could ever top tonight."

In retrospect, maybe saying that hadn't been a good idea. She really should have known he'd take it as a challenge.


	71. Oberon

71. Oberon

"_What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet._"

What indeed? Evergreen thought, harshly. It was subtle magic, but in the end _everything_ was in a name. Fear, power, respect, affection, honour, dignity… the names you were called were a measure of the opinion against you, the weight you carried in the world.

"Titania" wielded more power than either "Erza" or "Evergreen" but it was not a name she could simply claim for herself. Names were _given_. The people had chosen Erza as their Titania.

Well there was another way to be Queen of the Fairies. Evergreen always had a back-up. She simply had to consort with the King of the Fairies, Oberon.

So she had done. She had followed the most powerful, the King, to the ends of the world and back. In return he had given her a name with almost as much worth as Titania. _Raijinshuu_. She became Evergreen of the Raijinshuu, elite, powerful, respected.

Until her Oberon fell that was, and with it the name she had taken such pride in.

But names also lost their power when you no-longer cared for them. To her dismay Evergreen discovered that she cared more about the man behind Oberon and the people behind Raijinshuu. Life would be so much easier, if she could pretend to be the outcast child she once was, unbound by the ties of affection.

But that would be a greater blasphemy against Oberon's name than his own fall from grace. Instead she took up his banner, and worked for his cause where he was no longer able to. He had opened the way for her, now she and her brothers would lay the groundwork for the possibility of his return.

Casting aside the title of Fairy Queen was a small price, if it meant the King could one day return.


	72. Remote Control

72. Remote Control

Sherry didn't know if she believed in chance anymore.

The dice were loaded, the cards were stacked, the house always won and fate –fate _always_ had the last word.

What were the chances that after _three years_ a group of mages would arrive to disturb their revenge on Deliora? What were the chances that Lyon-sama would know one of them? What were the chances that they would be _capable_ of stopping them?

What were the chances that, within months of joining Lamina Scale, she and Lyon-sama would be chosen for such an important mission as the Light Alliance requested? What were the chances that they would meet the same group of mages? What were the chances that they would succeed?

What were the chances that on _this_ **mockingly** _easy_ mission, things would go so wrong and Lyon-sama face injuries that effectively put him out of commission?

What were the chances that when it looked like the end, they would happen upon Gray-san? Gray whose static ice magic made such great hosts for her to use as remote puppets?

Perhaps individually the chances of any of these occurrences were not so bad. But for all of them to happen?

Sherry wasn't sure if fate was laughing at her or smiling down on her.

As far as the client was concerned, the mission was completed by a Puppeteer and an Ice Alchemist, a sufficiently vague description of the mage's he'd hired. Lamina scale would receive full payment.

Sherry just wondered if there was any chance Gray-san wouldn't hold this incident over Lyon-sama's head.


	73. Questionnaire

**AN:** For Kitani, who gave me both the prompt and the premise. I wouldn't have come up with this if not for my worthy rival!

* * *

73. Questionnaire

Over the years he had become an expert at ignoring that little voice. The little voice that told him he was going too far with this buy-out, or he ought to treat his employees better. The voice that said while Lucy would love the dress, she would probably prefer a hug.

But without the sounds of a successful empire reverberating around him, the voice became louder and louder until it was impossible for even him to ignore.

Straightening himself up as far as his current level of destitution would allow him; he set out to find the answer to the one question the voice was continually pounding into his skull.

It should probably be noted that while his current level of "destitution" was considerable compared with his previous level of luxury, he was by no means destitute anymore. Three months at Love and Lucky had provided him a new wardrobe and adequate nourishment and shelter. So when the river-boatmen saw him standing along the canal, they took him for what he was; a businessman, not a beggar.

"Excuse me!" he hailed and they pulled-to at the edge of the canal "there is a girl at this residence, so tall, blonde hair, brown eyes, Spirit-mage. Do you know of her?" he asked, indicating her height with a wave of his hand and using his best trying-to-win-clientele-with-confidence voice.

"Lucy-chan?" one asked and continued when he gave a nod "Know her well enough to say hello to and chat to of an evening."

"Is she happy?" he asked, and finally the voice in his head fell silent as it too, waited on the answer.

"Strange question" the other answered, leaning on his barge-pole "Reckon so, she skips along here with that little white creature 'appily enough. Don't know that I've e'er seen her upset." He turned to his partner and the younger man grinned

"Sure you have, that time the Salamander and the dark-haired one were fighting outside? Hell would have frozen with the glare she sent that way when they knocked her in."

The old man let out a laugh "Serve 'em right too. Haven't seen either of 'em roun' here since she put them in place. Think it was worse 'cause she were wearing white tha' day."

Oblivious to the implications of this statement (he had never done a days toil in his life how could he know the effect of water on white cloth?) he pushed on. "She's getting along well then, that's… good to know."

"Ain't seen 'er bing a fella back though" the older commented "Girl that age, pretty as she is oughta have a queue o' men lining the street fer her." The little voice told him he had no right to feel relieved about this, considering it had been his intention to have her married off for profit. But he was.

"She's waiting for the right one. Like her Mother did." He answered with a faraway look and missed the boatmen exchanging glances

"You a friend of Lucy's?"

The question startled him and it was a moment before he could answer "A well-wisher. I worked for her family once."

The boatmen took this at face value and started to push off "Well, give her our regards if you see her Mister."

He raised a hand in farewell and watched them heave-to up the canal. There was even a full minute of silence in his head before the little voice took up another complaint; he really ought to be asking _Lucy_ these questions.

He groaned and began the journey back to Love and Lucky determined to ignore that little voice for another three months if he possibly could.

There was no rest in this parenting business. But he had a feeling the rewards might be worth it.


	74. Secret Agent

**AN:** For Cursedlonelyheart, who requested one Gray/Lucy and instead got two -this chapter **and** the next!

* * *

74. Secret Agent

There was something off-putting about Gemini, Gray thought.

The fact that someone could look at you from a distance, without you knowing anything about it, and have a perfect copy of all your memories, all your thoughts and feelings was downright distressing.

The fact that they could always walk around in a _perfect_ disguise as you was only slightly less worrying than what they could do with the information they had.

Surely Gray's thoughts ought to be his own? His feelings for his own heart to deal with? His memories played out only in the theatre of his own mind?

But no, Gemini knew them too. Even the things Gray wouldn't admit to himself. Gemini knew all these and by extension, Lucy _could_ know all of them too.

Gray doubted if Lucy would abuse the privilege. He doubted she even realised the potential that spirit had as a scion that would bring even the council to it's knees in fear of what it might discover.

This was one of the reasons he liked her in the first place. Lucy was book-smart but not street-smart. Gemini could provide leverage over anyone. Lucy _knew_ that, but the thought would never occur to her to _use_ that knowledge. Not against guild-mates anyway.

Lucy was sweet and slightly dense, strong of heart with a will of iron when she made up her mind. Overall she was utterly adorable.

But _if_ he ever decided to tell her these things it had to be his prerogative. _If _he ever decided that one of the secrets he kept from himself was that he liked her above all other women, the confession would have to come from _him_.

There was something deeply off-putting about Gemini.

How could anyone know your heart better than yourself?


	75. Black

75. Black

Erza wondered sometimes, if the vision of her funeral had been a dream from her own sub-conscious, or a magical-illusion of a possible future powered by the Etherion coursing through her.

In either case she wondered why Gray and Lucy had attended together.

Gray was one of the most supportive people she knew, in his own cold manner. But support was not comfort, which Lucy would have been seeking. Surely, she would have been with Levy, Jet and Droy at such an event?

Gray was not a person to admit he needed help or comfort. Surely he would stand on his own, head upright and refusing to cry, rather than lean on Lucy and hide his face in her hair as she wept openly?

What was it she had missed about those two with her waking mind?

She played the scene out again until the moment Natsu interrupted and Gray left Lucy's side. Perhaps that was it; they were both rational people were they not? People who were uncomfortable in the chaos Fairy Tail sometimes caused? Their reactions were different; Gray would jump into the fray to subdue it, Lucy would hide –but neither of them ever started it.

Natsu went overboard at the drop of a pin. Erza knew her faults well enough to admit that she could also be thoughtless of her surroundings when fervour was upon her. Gray rarely lost his cool. Lucy never went overboard. That was why their team worked. For every instance Natsu got worked up, Gray was there to be his target, for every plan of hers that verged on puritanical, Lucy was there to be the voice of reason, the straight-man of their group.

Gray and Lucy were the stability that kept Natsu and Erza out of the council's prison cells (for the most part). How silly of her not to think they might be each other's stability too.


	76. Mathematics

**AN**: For Jess, who is the root of all insanity, and knows _exactly_ where this one came from.

* * *

76. Mathematics

"Do you know" he asked, leaning across the table to brush her hair back from her face and trailing a long finger down her neck "why they call me 'Hundred Night Hibiki'?"

She smirked, a cruel twist of deliciously painted lips and tilted her head coyly to one side "Is it… the amount of time you spent practising all those ridiculous lines?"

"So mean." He pouted, retracting his hand and instead using it to prop his chin up; he blinked slowly lowering his eyelashes for full effect as he gazed at her from under them "But you can't play the Ice-Queen forever. Those boys who follow you will lose interest."

"Oh?" she curled a lock of hair around a perfectly manicured finger before flicking it back "I suppose you mean, that only a _man_ like you could make me melt?"

"Precisely."

Her laughter was low and rich, a dark chuckle that oozed over him like molasses. "Look around you Hibiki-kun" she said, lifting his chin with those perfectly manicured fingers so his gaze turned out to the rest of the room "For all the women waiting for their 'hundred nights' there are at least four men trying to… 'melt' me." She leaned forward so there were only inches between their lips and he could practically taste her lipstick "Do you really think you stand a chance?"

"Oh yes." he replied, easing forward so he took up her entire field of vision "It's simple maths darling. You're a practical woman, so you ought to know-" she was leaning forward, and he choked when she came so close that his lips brushed hers ever-so-slightly when he spoke "-that one night with me is worth a hundred with anyone else." he finished in a rush, barely able to keep his voice under control.

There was a heartbeat of silence, then another. Hibiki's eyes slid closed in preparation for the kiss he was sure would come. Instead he felt a puff of air across his face. He reeled back in time to watch her stand up gracefully and walk away, hesitating a moment at the edge of the booth they had occupied.

"Your maths doesn't add up Hibiki-kun. But you're cute so I'll give you another chance. When you have as many people following you as I do; try again."

She walked on without looking back and Hibiki slumped back into his seat, watching her go with smouldering eyes and a lazy grin. This was his victory -he'd seen it for sure. He'd seen that tiny blush that had graced her features. Even if it was only a little, even if it was only a single drop, she _had_ melted.

He had made Karen Lillica melt.

This could very well be the start of something beautiful. When he was through, she would be no more than a puddle.


	77. Destiny

77. Destiny

_Deus ex Machina_: God out of the Machine. Divine intervention when common sense and logic indicated there would be no happy ending.

It was a device Lucy hated, and avoided using in her stories at all costs. However she couldn't control her life as well as her literature. The idiom haunted her.

In the form of one Natsu Dragneel.

The amount of times he had shown up at just the right moment, or pushed himself to a new level to save her, and their friends, was getting ridiculous. Yet everyone said he _still_ hadn't reached his full potential.

Lucy had reached the end of _her_ patience though. She had mastered forced dismissal, her collection of keys was continually expanding and the River of Stars now in her possession put her on a more equal footing with her comrades, both Human and Celestial.

She _would_ train harder, she _would_ get stronger.

She would _not_ rely on a pink-haired miracle to save them every time something bad happened, as they so frequently did.

Natsu was _not_ a God, and it wasn't fair to always rely on him. If the Deus ex Machina ever failed, no-one would take it harder than him.

For his sake, Lucy would learn how to create her own miracles.


	78. Matchmaking

**AN:** For Sweety8587 who requested "something NaLu with the prompt "matchmaking". Something wacky would be awesome". Well, you can't say I don't deliver...

* * *

78. Matchmaking

"You have got to be kidding me." Lucy deadpanned staring at their client in a state of shock "This isn't even remotely-" she cut herself off, pulled the job-notice out of her bag and read it again. Meanwhile the grin on Natsu's face had reached ear-splitting proportions

"This is fantastic!" He yelled, cracking his knuckles "I can really get into this! I thought it was gonna be boring but this is cool! You really can pick 'em Lucy!"

Lucy however, was on a completely different wavelength and ignored the compliment. She scrunched the paper up into a ball and threw it at the client "This is the most misleading, badly-worded request I've ever seen! What's with all the hearts on the paper? You should have had this proofread before submitting it to the guilds, have you never heard of a hyphen? **Hy**-_phen_! At the very least there ought to be one right between "match" and "making"! Otherwise the words ought to be completely separate!"

The client laughed nervously "It was my wife's stationary and neither of us have Fioran as a first language… We can speak very well but writing is difficult. I'm sorry if there was a misunderstanding but… as the Lycrima broke I really need these processed and I thought a mage could do it…"

"_These"_ were a pile of trees, from which the bark had been cut. They were waiting to go into a machine to be cut down into matchsticks, however the machine had broken and therefore…

"Yosh!" Natsu began, walking over to the trees, winding his shoulders back and cricking his neck in preparation "I'm gonna smash these to bits! Destroying stuff is my number one specialty."

Lucy sighed and detached Cancer and Taurus's keys from her key-ring to have at the ready while the client bowed out to leave them to it. "Matchmaking" she groaned "Now I know why the pay on this was so high. I thought it'd be a nice relaxing job." She watched as Natsu prepared to dive into the work with the determination in his eyes that said he'd complete any job he'd taken for Fairy Tail's sake… a sudden thought occurred to her and her head tilted to one side in her typical 'curious' pose "Hey, Natsu, if you thought this job was going to be boring, why'd you come with me? I was the only one who took the job."

"Eh? Why're you being weird Lucy?" he called down from his perch on top of a pyramid of logs he was deciding how best to demolish.

"What do you mean **I'm** being weird, Natsu? It's just a question." She replied eyeing the logs warily. If Natsu wasn't careful, the whole structure would give way and go rolling everywhere, probably taking half their payment in damage compensation with it.

"Then it's a stupid question, weirdo" He responded, moving along the topmost log to stare down at her "I'm your partner-"

Of course "Natsu" and "careful" didn't belong in the same thought without a negative association. The log he was standing on rolled out under his feet, starting an avalanche as his attempts to regain balance displaced the rest of the stack. Lucy shrieked and held her arms up to defend her head, which didn't make much difference when she was slammed to the ground, the wind knocked out of her.

But there was no other pain. No logs pounding down on her or crushing her. She slowly cracked an eye open only to discover Natsu on his hands and knees above her -and several tonnes of dead wood slanted across his back.

"-where else would I be?"


	79. Foreign Language

**AN:**For Dannyyob who wanted exposition on a certain one of Gajeel's jobs... Although I took the "Terrors" to a different extreme than expected.

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79. Foreign Language

Gajeel was terrified. Although he did his best to hide it. Showing weakness was never an option for him.

How had it turned out this way? This was supposed to be an easy job. Something light and quick so he could take another and another without much rest. Until Magnolia's citizens got used to him being a part of Fairy Tail and he could work the longer jobs.

One afternoon teaching children magic was not supposed to be traumatising.

Not for _him_ at least. The children on the other hand…

But things rarely turned out as they were _supposed_ to when Fairy Tail got involved. Gajeel was going to have to learn how to deal with that. He had expected to teach a class of unruly delinquents –why else would they want a Fairy Tail mage to teach them if they weren't halfway down that path already? He'd yell at them, maybe break a wall or two after disarming whatever pranks they'd set in place, then they'd shut up and listen. Job complete, brats educated, money in the bank.

Instead he got a room full of angels… or rather, automatons.

They sat in four perfect rows. Each blazer was hung neatly on a hook at the back, each desk had a notebook open to a fresh page, each child sat ready to take notes, not a hair out of place.

They practically blinked in unison. Not a spark of spirit between them. No wonder they wanted a Fairy Tail mage to teach them!

Gajeel pushed aside his unease and chalked up the lesson on the board. No duster fell on his head, no tacks on his seat, no disruptive students passing notes… _nothing_ he could relate to. He turned to address the class but may as well have been speaking gobbledygook by the way their unblinking gaze rested on him listlessly.

This was the single most terrifying mission of his life.

One afternoon teaching children? No. _Never_ again.


	80. Reward

**AN: Prompted by (and therefore dedicated to) Daenerys Stormborn who gave a one word prompt; "Reward"**

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80. Reward

Once upon a time, your reward came in cold hard jewel, which you spent on a night on the town, compensation, hair gel, and distracting Bob from whom or _what_ever had broken his heart this time. You might even get around to buying food after all that.

Then, over time, you spent more evenings in, there no more broken hearts and less hair.

The compensation you paid was the same though.

These days, your reward comes in the sheer relief you feel each time one of your kids comes home. You see their smiling faces as they ready for their own nights out and are glad beyond belief that you're there to guide them.

Your old friends understand this. Not that you _ever_ had a heart-to-heart with Goldmine, but you know he knows. Even Polyuscia knows, catty as she is these days.

You just wonder where that line you crossed was? When do you stop counting your reward in jewels and start counting smiles? How long will you have to wait to move on to the next reward, whatever that may be?

When one of your kids starts counting smiles, then you'll know who the next Master is. Then you'll be able to retire quietly. Or not so quietly, but at least you won't have to go to the council anymore.

Until then you keep counting your reward, and are glad for every single smile, however small


	81. Cupcakes

**AN: Another request from Sweety8587 (the person responsible for "Matchmaking"); Lucy and Gajeel bonding. Also containing a request from Serena, who asked for a particular line.**

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**81. Cupcakes

For a brief moment, Lucy considered telling Gajeel he was a terrible person and he shouldn't laugh at other's misfortune. The moment passed however, as moments tend to do and Lucy concentrated more on holding her own laughter in.

It's hard not to be happy while holding a cupcake –but Natsu managed it. Infact he managed to be perfectly miserable about it. Even with his face swathed in bandages his misery and frustration shone through. Finally Lucy could hold it no more and let a giggle slip through

"Sorry, Natsu" she broke off for a moment to catch her breath and wipe a threatening tear from her eye "but I don't think I can liquefy a cupcake. You'll have to wait for the bandages to come off before you eat that."

Natsu grumbled something unintelligible and Lucy turned to Gajeel for a translation. The Iron Dragon-Slayer just shook his head "You don't want to hear what that was. But as Salamander can't appreciate it…" Gajeel reached forward to take the cupcake, watching the misery in Natsu's eyes growing exponentially. It was one thing to have a cupcake and not be able to eat it; it was another thing entirely to have a cupcake taken _away_ from you.

Just then Lucy's hand darted out and slapped Gajeel's away "Hey now, just because you wolfed yours down without savouring it doesn't mean you can have Natsu's. Mirajane's cupcakes are made to be appreciated."

Gajeel blinked in bemusement and stared at his hand "You slapped me." He said absently then turned to Natsu, pointing a finger at Lucy "She _slapped_ me."

Natsu responded with something else unintelligible to which Gajeel nodded along. They both turned to stare at her as Natsu's muffled ramblings continued. "Whoa, I didn't know she was that scary" Gajeel said then fell back into listening to Natsu giving the odd agreement here and there. Lucy rubbed her temple in an attempt to calm down as she tried to convince herself not to beat the living daylights out of the pair of them.

"Heeeeeeh, that's kinda cool" Gajeel said, still in conversation with Natsu, but the words grabbed Lucy's attention enough that she looked over, fist unclenching "I guess I wasn't going _particularly_ easy on her either." Natsu nodded and said something else to which Gajeel listened attentively.

Lucy never found out what Natsu had said about her, but after that Gajeel never tried to antagonise her.

Although that may have had more to do with the fact that after he translated one particularly stupid comment of Natsu's, _she_ stole the cupcake from him.

Gajeel had a whole different level of respect for people who made Salamander cry.


	82. Unicorns and Poison

**AN: Once upon a time, a lurker stepped forward out of the shadows and anonymity and sent a message to an authoress they liked. The authoress thought this was very brave and rewarded the lurker's courage by responding to the message and honouring the request therein. Even if the request _was_ the most difficult to date. **

**I mean really? A LokeLucyNatsu to the theme "Unicorns and Poison"? Unicorns. And. Poison. You're lucky I like you Lurker-chan. **

******So, this one is dedicated to my special Lurker-chan, whom I shan't embarrass by naming. And I suppose, to all my other lurkers. I hope you're all enjoying Fairy Lore as much as I am.**

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82. Unicorns and Poison

Had he been human, free from the spirit world and able to spend as much time as he liked in this world, then Loke would probably have been the most fantastic host in history. Hibiki, Eve and Ren could eat their hearts out –when he put his mind to it Loke really knew how to charm a woman.

Unsurprising really, when he had always ranked ahead of them in the "Mage you most want to be your boyfriend" contests _Sorcerer_ ran.

And he really _had_ put thought into this evening. Their anniversary he called it. A celebration of the day she saved his immortal life and gave him a reason to live it.

She couldn't dismiss that, not when he said it so sincerely. Even although Happy would probably be rolling his tongue at her all year once he found out about this.

_If _he found out. She'd been keeping it so quiet that even Levy didn't know where she was tonight, but…

Loke's champagne flute chimed a sweet note against hers and she tipped the bubbling drink back down her throat with a smile. They sat side-by-side watching the stars through the curtain of a weeping willow, the remains of a picnic around them while the river flowed along merrily, providing the backing noise to the tale Loke was weaving for her benefit. A tale of knights and unicorns, fair maidens and faeries –the beauty of whom she far surpassed, naturally.

She rolled her eyes at his dramatics and listened to his voice as he practically purred the story for her. Yet, no matter what, another voice echoed through her mind.

"_You always wear that perfume when you're going out. Strange though, Erza said you guys weren't doing anything tonight._"

She really couldn't put anything past Natsu anymore. But the fact that he even knew he perfumes was a little weird. What had bothered her more though was the fact that she _hadn't_wanted to admit she had a date.

And the look on his face when she had.

Lucy shook her head discreetly and pushed Natsu from her thoughts. Tonight she was here with Loke, celebrating their…

Friendship? Partnership?

Relationship?

"_C'mon Lucy I know you better than that. You always wear that perfume when you're going out._"

So why was Natsu seeping into her thoughts like poison?


	83. Dragons and Hangover Cures

**AN:** Apologies for the delay -it was my birthday, then Christmas, then I moved halfway round the world. Somewhere during all that my muse died. It's still struggling a bit under the heat (Australia is bloody hot to a poor Scots Lass) but we'll muddle through.

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83. Dragons and Hang-over cures

"When she's doing physical stuff, she wears her hair like this." Natsu said, using his fists to indicate the low bunches Lucy pulled her hair into on occasion "She only leaves it completely down when she has a day off and isn't doing anything" he continued, his hands dropping down to his sides. "She has a draw full of those little ribbons. All folded neatly so you can see every colour. It's like Fantasia in a box."

Lisanna transformed one finger into a talon and used it to uncap two bottles, passing one over to Natsu silently. They sat in his hallway, leaning against opposite walls. Lisanna focused her gaze on him while he stared absently at the wall opposite.

"She has three types of shampoo. One she uses all the time, one for when we've come back from a long mission and one that Cancer uses when he does her hair."

The collection of empty bottles beside Lisanna was larger than Natsu's. He was still nursing the last one. She could make the excuse that she wasn't talking, but it would ring false. Honestly, she needed the liquid to nurse _her_ aching heart.

"She reorganises her Keys every new moon, or when she makes a new contract. She's really bad at making a contract when she gets a Key, she always leaves it for a day or so, or until she _needs_ the spirit."

Lisanna had promised herself that she wouldn't do this. She had mostly avoided Lucy Ashley, because Lucy Ashley had been close to Natsu Dragion and she couldn't, couldn't, _couldn't_ bring herself to be friends with someone who looked so much like _her_ Natsu but _wasn't_. But even then she'd been drawn in; she was the one who comforted Natsu Dragion when Lucy Ashley bullied him.

She had promised herself when she met Lucy Heartfilia that she wouldn't let herself be put in the same position. Not with _her_ Natsu.

But then, she'd also promised herself she wouldn't shout at Gray for stripping ever again. _That_ resolution barely lasted a month.

"She writes in her diary _every day_. She only works on her book at weekends, or in the mornings before she comes into the guild."

Now though, Natsu wasn't _her _Natsu. Not that he'd ever really been hers; he'd never taken that step, never offered himself. Lisanna could see now that he probably never would.

It hurt. It was lot less than she thought it would be, but there was still an ache in her heart.

"I know more about her than _she_ does! So why didn't I know about this date tonight? Why didn't she want to tell me? Why… "

"_Why am I not good enough?_" Lisanna finished in her head, then downed her bottle and set the empty glass down with a loud clunk, forcefully drawing Natsu's attention "What happened to you while I was gone Natsu? Why don't you just use plan 'c'?"

"**C**harge straight in?" Natsu asked with a confused voice "that's for enem-"

"-Charge straight in and _ask_ her, idiot." Lisanna chastised fondly "If you want to know, go straight to the source."

Natsu stared at her for a whole minute before he broke out into the grin she knew so well, his entire face lighting up "Lisanna I love you."

"I know" she replied, and the ache eased up just a little, knowing that she still held a place in his heart and he acknowledged it "I said I'd support you, right? You can count on me."

"You too." Natsu insisted, standing up and offering a hand to pull her to her feet "If you ever need me for anything, just say."

"I know" she repeated and basked in his smile just a little, before he turned and headed towards the door "Natsu? What are you-"

"Plan C!" he said, starting to limber up while he explained himself.

"Now?" Lisanna asked then waved his answer off, realising the stupidity of her question. "Never mind. Fight hard!" She enthused and smiled at his sharp salute as he charged out the door. The smile faded quickly and she pressed a hand against her heart for a moment, staring down at the remaining bottles.

With a sigh, Lisanna lifted her shoulders and went to find Natsu's supply of Cana's patented hangover-cure number eight.

It was time to let go.


	84. Sunglasses

84. Sunglasses

The glasses slipped from the table with a clatter and Gray watched for a moment before striding forward and picking them up, holding them out to the owner as soon as he pulled his hands away from his face. "You alright buddy?" he asked

"Yeah" Loke replied, unconvincingly, pinching the bridge of his nose and wedging his fists in his eyes for a second before taking the shades back and sliding them into position "Thanks, don't worry I'll be fine in a moment."

"Still shaken huh? It's only been three days, but if you're still this bad after a week you should talk to the Master." Gray advised. Loke looked up at him with a confused expression and Gray worried if he'd hit his head a bit too hard "Then again you lasted at least ten minutes longer than most guys. Erza really needs to lighten up a bit."

Loke's expression cleared of confusion "Oh, no, this isn't Erza's fault, although using so much magic to defend myself probably didn't help."

Gray's eyes narrowed inquisitively and he slid into a seat on the bench opposite the newbie guild member "Are you ill then? Have you seen a Doctor?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine" Loke insisted waving a hand dismissively "Just been a bit anaemic recently, maybe?"

"_Maybe?"_ Gray questioned internally but let it drop, pushing himself back out of his seat and clamping a hand briefly on Loke's shoulder as he resumed his path back to the request board "If you say so, still, take it easy for a bit –oh and avoid Erza for a month or so."

"That would have been good to know before I asked her out" Loke replied with a sigh, pushing the sunglasses back up his nose. Smiling, Gray went on his way.


	85. Nobility

85. Nobility

Prince Jellal honestly thought he'd lived long enough and travelled far enough not to be surprised by anything anymore.

Considering his long involvement with the Fairy Tail in the other world he ought to have known better. Really why would the Fairy Tail over here be any less… weird?

He had expected the guild's liaison would be Lucy or Natsu. Most likely the former; Lucy Ashley seemed a lot closer to Lucy Heartphilia than any of their other counterparts, except possibly Mirajane.

What he got instead was a woman of grace and poise, who moved through the grand ballroom like a breeze, showing no sign she had been raised an outlaw. She flitted from group to group happily, almost more at ease in her surroundings than he was.

He wondered if this was really the woman Wendy would grow up to become.

He wondered then, why she hadn't, why the age difference between the two was so great.

There had been some question over Natsu and Gajeel's age –was Wendy afflicted by the same problem? But then why did the two Natsu's appear to be similar ages?

Jellal shook his head; he must learn to put it out of his mind, those were the concerns of another world. Right now he had a kingdom to rebuild, the first step of which was to foster relations between previously warring factions as they worked out how to live without magic.

And most importantly: before him was a woman of grace and poise who found herself without a dance partner.


	86. Bubbles

**AN: **For Tillyme, who gave me this prompt AGES ago

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86. Bubbles (Romance and a Power Outage)

She was asleep. Moreover, she knew she was asleep: at the corners of her mind was a snapshot of the white of her bed linen, glowing lightly in the dawn. She must have opened her eyes -a minute ago? An hour?

It was raining. Somehow this was her fault –not her fault, not her fault, not her fault on this day! The power was out and she had to fix it or be blamed for the whole affair, she had to find the generator, but Gray had just popped the champagne.

He caressed her cheek, soft and cool. She was dimly aware that she had turned her pillow and her cheek was resting on the cool underside.

The power was still out and the guild was looking at her expectantly. Not her fault! Why would she make it rain on their wedding?

She turned to find the generator anyway. Two steps forward and suddenly she stumbled on the champagne cork, one foot kicked out behind her, one arm flung forward.

She snapped into the room with a dizzying sense of vertigo. After a moment she pulled her arm back from under the pillow and curled her legs up to her chest. It had been the flailing motion that had woken her and she took a moment to be still and calm, to remember the date, and what she was supposed to do today.

Juvia sighed and pushed herself up, the linen bed sheet pooling around her waist. Another day, another mission and another chance to win her love.

Today the sun was shining.


	87. Recital

87. Recital

It was a Waltz, how Natsu, Gray and Erza worked together so flawlessly. Lullaby swung it's tree-trunk arms like clubs pounding down on them –but they were never there. Twisting and turning and jumping and twirling, icy diamond dust, slivers of silver and red-golden fireworks. Lucy could only stand and watch in awe and wish to dance with them.

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It was like a child dancing by standing on her father's shoes. Sherry stepped forward on her right but instead of stepping her left back Lucy went forward and they stumbled and scraped and bit and pulled and tore. Neither of them was elegant or graceful. In the end they both collapsed exhausted, with sore feet.

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It was a Tango, or Pasodoble, at times worse; a _dance macabre_. A dance of power and domination. Heartphilia and Phantom, Phantom and Fairy Tail, Lucy stuck in the centre, the Matador's rag. She did her best to stay on her feet and not be crushed by the raging bull –or dragons. At the end she knew she could not manage an encore. She cut ties with that fiasco's conductor and set out once more to find her own dance.

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It was like a school disco, when a song you don't know comes on and all the other children are dancing a flawless routine. She was pushed to the edge of the floor, sidelined, swept away, disposed of –her inadequacy assumed. Until in the midst of tears she found the beat and a partner and she and Juvia finished the dance in style. She gained a friend and left the stage clear for the main act.

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It was a Jive -energetic and exuberant, requiring two people in sync with each other to be their support, to stand equally. Lucy jumped and Loke dived. Lucy dodged and Loke blocked. Twist, turn, shake, rattle 'n' roll. Finally Loke pulled a show-stopper and Lucy finished with flare. Bixlow was down –now they just had to save the rest of Magnolia.

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It was like a festival. When you've been running around the stalls all day and are staggering through the bonfire dance just to prove you can. Lucy had been running on empty for most of the afternoon –the change of clothes she hadn't requested were proof of that. Erza, Gray and Natsu were staggering alongside her, out of their usual routine. But there was only one more event to go, one last game of "break the lycrima" and the festival would end. You only had to survive that long, dance your part so everyone in the festival could dance theirs.

* * *

It was a Ballet. A beautiful, flowing ballet in which she was the prima donna. The river of stars flowed behind her, casting rainbows in the refracted light, tracing patterns on her skin, lighting her eyes. She danced and twisted and leaped and jumped and twirled. Two legs far superior to eight. Natsu beamed his appreciation and Lucy knew she'd finally learned their steps.


	88. Eighty Eight

88. Eighty-Eight

It started out innocently enough. Master Bob sent him to get details from Master Makarov on who was going to be entering Fairy Tail's S-class exams this year. Given the unpredictable nature of said exams it was required that at least one other guild be fully informed –it was likely that they would run over and Makarov be absent from the next guild meeting.

Data gathered, Hibiki looked around the guild hall and spotted Lucy. His only thought was to say 'hi' and congratulate her on being chosen as a partner. He really hadn't intended to get sidetracked into a conversation that was as awkward as it was soothing.

He wondered if this was another Nirvana situation. Would he have been safer not knowing?

But he had asked so she told him what she knew of the story of Leo, Aires and Karen, a sad look on her face the whole way through. In return he told her of the Karen he had known, a wistful look in his eye the whole time.

"She wanted all the keys at one point, talked about it endlessly. Until someone, Ichiya-sensei I think, told her how impractical that would be" he said

"All eighty-eight?" Lucy asked with a slight giggle, then frowned; a vacant look in her eyes. He could almost see the holes in her memory, the residual data from his spell trying to break to the surface. He swallowed his guilt –she wasn't ready for all that knowledge. Urano Metoria would break her mind if she knew it now. It had taken all he had to stop it breaking her before.

When had he started toying with people's minds that way? Deciding what was best for them to know? Leaving them with gaps in their memory, unable to account for why they suddenly had no magic left?

He could have killed her that day. Indirectly, but inevitably him.

"Yep" he confirmed and she snapped back to the present at the sound of his voice. "But with that many you'd forget who you could or couldn't summon at any given time right? Too much to remember –well unless you're me." He smiled winningly and Lucy laughed pushing him away and calling him a braggart.

It helped, a little, but he still left Fairy Tail that night with the sour taste of guilt in his mouth.


	89. The Little Picture

89. The Little Picture.

In the grand scheme of things she knew she was a minor player. She wasn't (un)lucky like Lucy, who joined the guild and straight-away got swept into Natsu's wake. She wasn't experienced like Cana, who knew the guild inside-out and backwards and had the authority to "marshal the troops" in a battle when the Master was incapacitated. She wasn't powerful like Erza, who often brought back trophies larger than the most recent monster-horn that had graced the guild hall for a week before she cleared space for it in her room.

But that didn't make her unimportant when such a small thing as a haircut brought the jealousy of a lot of the girls down upon her. Laki hadn't actually intended to enter the Miss Fairy Tail contest, she had the haircut because it was time for a haircut. Everyone else assumed it was to look cuter for the contest –who was she to argue?

Laki took that as a source of pride. First, that everyone approved of the new look –even if they showed it as jealousy. Secondly that she had defeated all the girls who attacked her over it during the contest.

In the grand scheme of things she was a minor player.

On a small, day-to-day scale however, Laki knew she was pretty cool.


	90. Blood and Chocolate

**AN:** I wrote this as a Valentines prompt... two valentines ago... Yeah... I shan't bother you with details, if you're here it's 'cos you want to read so, hope you enjoy (finally)

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90. Blood and Chocolate

At Lucy's call, Loke phased into existence before her. The grin on his face was brighter than the light that brought him.

"My Princess! I've missed you. Shall we reacquaint ourselves over a date? Lunch by the canal, a walk through the gardens, dancing under starlight and then-"

"Be serious, Leo, or I'll dismiss you." Lucy interrupted, pointing his key at him in a sharp motion.

The use of _that_ name stunned him for a moment and he looked at her closely. She was perched on the edge of her sofa with a closed-off posture and sad eyes. A folder and notepad sat on her lap, a fountain pen resting across the paper.

"But I brought chocolates" He replied half-joking to lighten the mood, placing the gift down on the coffee table next to an ink pot and sliding into the seat opposite her. "What can I do for you, Lucy?"

Lucy sighed and closed her eyes. After a moment to gather her composure she took a deep breath and looked straight up at him.

"I want to renegotiate your contract."

Loke's heart froze for a moment before he got himself under control. "_It's alright she's not __**releasing**__ you. Get a grip_" He thought, and then slowly asked; "Lucy… is this …about Edoras and Virgo?"

"Yes" she replied, looking down at her knees "I called and you didn't come. You said I could always call you but-"

"-I-It won't happen again, Lucy." Loke insisted "It was a one time thing, I'm always ready to-"

"-it's not fair to expect more from you than from the rest of my friends." Lucy continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. Loke, wisely, shut up. "So I want to negotiate a contract where there _are_ times I can't call you."

"No." Loke said, to which Lucy raised an eyebrow "No Lucy –look, I… I know I screwed up and I'm sorry, really sorry. But I want you to be able to call me all the time. Whenever you need me."

"I needed you then, Leo."

She said it so simply, without reproach or censure, as a matter of pure inarguable _fact_ that Loke deflated completely. He couldn't gaze at her directly –only peek over the rim of his glasses. "It… turned out alright, didn't it?"

"The end justifies the means?" she asked and Loke flinched, remaining silent. Lucy smiled sadly "So, Tuesdays off? Wednesdays? Every new moon?"

Loke shook his head "No, I-" he paused, then looked up "Aquarius does that doesn't she?"

"Does what?"

"Tells- um, _asks_ you not to summon her when she wants to spend extra time with Scorpio. I know it's important to you that I have time off , Lucy, but it's more important to me that I'm there for you… so rather than any one day… I just ask for some time as and when I need it? _Tell _you when I need some time and you won't be able to summon me."

Lucy was silent and Loke stared at her fearfully. Finally she smiled, her head tilting cutely "It's a compromise, but I'm willing to accept. I'll just write it up-"

Before Lucy could lift the pen to the notepad Loke had seized both. She had barely begun to protest when, without hesitation or warning, Loke drove the nib of the fountain pen into his bicep. The chamber filled with his blood instead of the ink from the pot on the table.

"Loke! Do you know what you're **_doing_**!" Lucy screamed, her eyes impossibly wide. Loke only grimaced and removed the pen, writing the contract himself "Loke! You almost _died_ once from a contract, you _know_ how powerful they are don't-" Loke signed his name and the blood dried in a flourish of golden sparkles "write one in blood…" Lucy finished belatedly as the blood on the page shimmered, completely set.

Loke smiled in grim satisfaction "_That_ ought to keep me in line at least."

"Loke…" Lucy whimpered, tears flooding her eyes. The spirit dropped the pen and contract haphazardly down onto the table and moved around it swiftly to kneel in front of her.

"Hey," he said softly, resting his forehead against hers, looking down to carefully brush the tears away "it'll be okay Lucy. It'll be okay."

Lucy leaned forwards to bury her face in his shirt while she cried, pounding one fist ineffectually against his chest. Loke ignored the blows and rubbed his hands up and down her arms whispering sweet nothings and platitudes over her tears.

Unobserved on the table, a single drop of blood fell from the pen onto the box of chocolates.


	91. For a Cause

91. For a Cause

Hearts are not fragile. One heart alone is, but many, joined together under a cause or united in feeling are not.

The hearts that made up Fairy Tail were declining. It started with the S-Class exams, the loss of their most powerful and their master, but it continued day-by-day for years until the hall itself was reduced to the same level as their spirit.

Those that remained struggled on, but if they were not causing a ruckus, if there was no party, no wanton property damage could they really call themselves Fairy Tail?

One spark would do it. If they could just kick off one more party, one celebration, even in the absence of so many then they would know they could persevere. There would be hope.

It was never determined who spoke first, Alzack or Bisca, or if they were so attuned to each other that they actually managed it in unison -but in two words they brought life and hope back to a guild on the edge.

"_Marry me_"

Those two hearts had always shared the same cause.


	92. The Female of the Species

92. The Female of the Species

Elfman, was by all measurable standards (and some not readily quantifiable ones) a MAN.

This was well documented, and broadcast frequently to anyone who paid the slightest attention to him. It was inarguable fact.

MEN, were MANLY, which Elfman was. They were strong, looked after their family, fought their enemies without hesitation, defended the honour of their guild, all these things and more.

Yet, looking at Evergreen, Elfman began to suspect that MEN would always be flummoxed by WOMEN.


	93. Her Father's Daughter

93. Her Father's Daughter

Facing her father, forcing him to acknowledging her, was perhaps the greatest challenge of her life.

Getting into Fairy Tail? Piece of Cake. Surviving Natsu, Gray and Erza? Simple enough when you know how. Phantom? Barely worth mentioning. Nirvana, Anima/Edoras, indeed anything life could possibly throw at her (or Fairy Tail in general) was nothing compared with getting up the courage to face him... again.

She knew, to the depth of her being, that she was strong, smart, resourceful -supported by perhaps _the_ greatest people in Fiore.

And yet he was... somehow _more_.

They'd never _truly_ spoken before. She'd never managed to connect with him as she had with her mother, but this time that would change, it _had_ to.

She raked a hand back through her hair and nearly burst into tears -that gesture belonged to her mother...

It was little wonder that Lucy later found Cana in her bathroom. Who else could the card master ask for filial advice?


End file.
